Classic Audiobook Collection - The Splendid Outcast by George Gibbs ~ Full Audiobook [romance]

Episode Date: July 12, 2023

The Splendid Outcast by George Gibbs audiobook. Genre: romance _What else?_—What else had happened? Something to do with the remarkable likeness between himself and Harry? The likeness,—so strong that only their own mother had been able to tell them apart. Memory came to him with a rush. He remembered now what had happened in the darkness, what he had done. Taken Harry’s lieutenant’s uniform, giving the coward his own corporal’s outfit. Then he, Jim Horton, had gone on and carried out the Major’s orders, leaving the coward writhing in the ditch. By George!——the fight—he, Jim Horton, had won the victory at Boissière Wood for the —th Infantry—_for Harry!—as Harry_! Perhaps, he was really Harry and not Jim Horton at all? He glanced around him curiously, as though somewhat amused at the metempsychosis. And then thoughtfully shook his head. No. He was Jim Horton, all right—Jim Horton. There was no mistake about that. (Excerpt from chapter 1) For ad-free listening try our premium subscription Chapters (Approximate) (00:00:00) Chapter 01 (00:29:18) Chapter 02 (00:52:57) Chapter 03 (01:27:34) Chapter 04 (01:59:12) Chapter 05 (02:25:31) Chapter 06 (02:56:48) Chapter 07 (03:20:21) Chapter 08 (03:50:18) Chapter 09 (04:27:05) Chapter 10 (04:50:26) Chapter 11 (05:18:58) Chapter 12 (05:46:52) Chapter 13 (06:12:33) Chapter 14 (06:40:14) Chapter 15 (07:10:20) Chapter 16 (07:41:20) Chapter 17 (08:06:09) Chapter 18 (08:31:43) Chapter 19 (09:04:18) Chapter 20 (09:28:53) Chapter 21 (09:57:40) Chapter 22 (10:22:19) Chapter 23 (10:55:45) Chapter 24 (11:30:42) Chapter 25 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

the splendid outcast by george gibbs chapter one the convalescent jim horton awoke in high fever and great pain but the operation upon his skull had been successful and it was believed that he would recover something as to the facts of the exploit of the wounded man had come to the hospital and he was an object of a special solicitude by both surgery and nurses. They had worked hard to save him that he might be alive for the decoration that was sure to come, and the knight had brought a distinct improvement in his condition. The nurse still watched his breathing eagerly and wrote down the new and favorable record upon the chart by his bedside. Miss Newberry was not in the least sentimental, and the war had blunted her sensibilities, but there was no denying the fact that when the dressing was removed from his head the patient was extremely good to look at he rewarded her on the morrow with a smile how long have i been here he murmured hazily six days she replied but you mustn't talk six wounded shh in the head shoulder and leg but you're doing nicely won't you tell me he began but she soothed him jess

not now later perhaps you must sleep again drink this please horton obeyed for he found himself too weak to oppose her it was very restful here he wriggled his toes luxuriously against the soft sheets for a moment if things would only stop whirling around and the pain but that seemed to cease again and he slept indeed his awakening was only to half-consciousness other days and nights followed when he lay in a sort of doze aware of much suffering and a great confusion of thought but slowly as he grew stronger the facts of his present position emerged from the dimness and with them a mild curiosity scarcely lucid as yet as to how he had gotten there at last there came a morning when the fog upon his memory seemed to roll aside and he began to recall one by one the incidents that had preceded his unconsciousness there had been a fight some fight that was huns all over the place in a ring around the rocks up in the branches of the trees everywhere but he had held on until the bush had started to run when the american line advanced he remembered that the engineers could do other things besides build saps and bridges good old engineers something was wrong somewhere out of his clouded brain slowly the facts came to him things that had happened before the fight just before Harry his twin brother Harry

lying in the ditch just behind Jim's squad of engineers a coward in a blue funk, afraid to carry out his major's orders to go forward and investigate. A coward, of course. Harry would be. He had always been a coward. Jim Horton sighed. His mind, ambling weakly into vacancy, suddenly arrested by a query, what else? What else had happened? Something to do with a remarkable likeness between himself and Harry? The likeness, so strong that only their own mother had been able to tell them apart. Memory came to him with a rush. He remembered now what had happened in the darkness, what he had done, taken Harry's lieutenant's uniform, giving the coward, his own corporal's outfit. Then he, Jim Horton, had gone on and carried out the major's orders,

leaving the coward writhing in the ditch. By George, the fight. He, Jim Horton, had gone on, and carried out the major's orders, leaving the coward writhing in the ditch by George the fight he Jim Horton had won the victory at Wossier Wood for the blank infantry for Harry as Harry perhaps he was really Harry and not Jim Horton at all he glanced around him curiously as though somewhat amused at the metam psychosis and then thoughtfully shook his head no he was Jim Horton all right Jim Horton, there was no mistake about that, but Harry. Imagine meeting Harry in a situation like that after all these years, a coward. Not that that was a very surprising thing. Harry had always been a

quitter. There was nothing that Harry could do or be that wasn't utterly despicable in the eyes of his brother Jim, and after having spent the best part of five years trying to live the memory of Harry down, nurse appeared silently and looked into Jim Horton's eyes. He closed them a moment and then smiled at her. How do you feel? she asked. Better, lots better, he answered. You see, I can really think. I wouldn't try to do that, not yet. Oh, I'm all right. And the nurse was ready for the first time to believe that her patient was to remain this side of the borderline of the dim realm into which she had seen so many go, for his eyes were clear, and he spoke with definite assurance. But the question that he asked made her dubious again,

I say, nurse, would you mind telling me what my name is? She gazed at him a moment as though a little disappointed, and then replied quietly, Lieutenant Henry G. Horton, of the blank infantry. Oh, said the patient, I see. I think you'd better sleep a while. Then I want the Major to see you. Oh, don't bother. I'm coming through all right now. I'm sure of it.

But I want to tell you. The nurse silenced him gently, then felt his pulse, and after another glance at him, moved to the next bed. It had been a wonderful operation, but then they couldn't expect the impossible. Jim Horton closed his eyes,

but he didn't sleep, with the shadow of death still. hovering over him he was trying to think charitably of harry of the man who had worked such havoc in the lives of those nearest him the five years that had passed since the death of their mother poor tired soul who until the end believed the whole thing a mistake could not have been fruitful in anything but evil in the life of the reprobate twin brother who had robbed the family of what had been left of the estate and then fled away from the small town where they lived to the gay lights of new york and now here he was an officer of the united states army where commissions do not come without merit what did it mean harry was always clever enough too clever by half had he quit drinking was he living straight there's seen but one answer to these questions or he could not have held his job in the army his job his commission wouldn't last long if his commanding officer knew what Jim Horton did. They all thought that the patient in the hospital bed was Harry Horton, a lieutenant of the

blank infantry. The corporal had won the lieutenant some glory, it seemed, instead of the ruin that awaited the discovery of the cowardice and disobedience of orders. But the substitution would be discovered unless Jim Horton could find his brother. harry and how was he going to manage that from his hospital bed a gentle perspiration exuded from jim horton's pores being surrounded by bosh in the wood was distinctly less hazardous than this and so when the nurse returned with the major he did his best to straighten out the tangle the major was much pleased at the patient's progress made a suggestion or two about a change in the treatment and were was on the point of turning away when horton spoke would you mind sir just a word of course something bothering you yes you see the patient hesitated again his lips twisting this whole thing is a mistake the doctor eyed the sick man narrowly a mistake and then kindly i don't understand horton frowned at the bed rail you see sir i'm not henry g horton i'm somebody else he saw the nurse and the doctor exchanged glances ah well said the medical man with a smile i'm I wouldn't bother about it.

But I do bother about it, sir. I've got to tell you, I'm another man. I changed uniforms with another fellow in the dark. He finished uneasily. The same look passed between nurse and surgeon, and then he saw Miss Newberry's head move slightly from left to right. The doctor rose. Oh, very well.

Don't let it bother you, my man. We'll get you all untangled presently. just try not to think you're doing nicely and the major moved slowly down the ward jim horton frowned at the medical officers broad back thinks i'm nutty he muttered to himself and then grinned the story was a little wild when the major had left the ward the nurse came back and smoothed horton's pillow you're to be very quiet she said gently and sleep all you can but nurse he protested I don't want to sleep anymore. I told him the truth. I've taken another man's place. You did it very well, from all accounts, she said with a smile,

and you'll take another man's before long, they say. What do you mean? Promotion, she laughed. But you won't get it if you have a relapse. I'm not going to have a relapse. I'm all right, better every day, and I'd like you to understand that I know exactly what I'm saying. i took another man's job he was was sick and i took his place i'm not lieutenant horton nurse you may be whatever you please if you'll only go to sleep

bless your heart that isn't going to change my identity his positiveness rather startled her and made her pause and stare at him soberly but in a moment her lips curved into a smile rather tender and sympathetic it wouldn't do to love let this illusion grow so gently she said your authenticity is well vouched for the report of your company captain the sergeant major of your battalion you see you've become rather a famous person in the blank i've seen some of your papers they're all quite regular even your identification disc it's here in the drawer with some other things that were in your pockets so please relax and sleep again won't you you i mustn't talk to you it's contrary to orders but nurse she patted him gently on the arm put a warning finger to her lips and silently stole away his gaze followed her the length of the room until she disappeared through the door when he sank back on his pillows with a groan nutty he muttered to himself wonder if i am he touched the bandage and realized that his head was beginning to throb again no i'm jim horton all right there's no doubt about that but how i'm going to make these seraphic idiots believe it is more than i can see that sergeant and the men by george and the sergeant major probably looked me over at the dressing station oh lord what a mess things began whirling around and jim horton closed his eyes he wasn't quite as strong as he thought he was and after a while he slept again downstairs in the major's office two surgeons and the nurse in charge were discussing the case queer obsession that thinks he's another man there may be some pressure there yet it ought to have cleared up by this it's shock sir i think he'll come out of it he's coming on miss newberry splendidly that's what i can't understand he looks as though he knew what he was saying any chance of there being a mistake none at all sir dr rosson came down with him in the ambulance his own company captain was there when the patient was given first aid he would have known his own lieutenant sir there can't be any mistake but he has scarcely any fever never mind keep

an extra eye on him. The wound is healing nicely. He'll come through all right. So Nurse Newberry returned to the ward, somewhat gratified to find her charge again peacefully asleep. The next day the patient did not revert to his obsession, but lay very quiet looking out of the window. His failure to reveal his secret left him moody and thoughtful, but his temperature was normal and he was without pain. You say there were some things in the pockets of my blouse, he asked the nurse. Yes, would you like to have them? The patient nodded, and she gave them to him, the identification disc, a wristwatch, some money, a notebook, and some papers. He looked them over in an abstracted way, sinking back on his pillow at last, holding the letters in his hand. Then at last,

though coming to a difficult decision he took one of the letters out of its envelope and began reading it was in a feminine hand and added more heavily to the burden of his responsibilities dear harry it ran i'm just back to my room a wife of three hours with a honeymoon and a railway station it all seems such a mistake without even an old shoe to bless myself with if i've helped you i'm glad of it but i'm not going to lie just to square us to with the almighty for the mockery i've been through i don't love you harry and you know that i did what dad asks me to do and i do it again if he asks me he seems restless to-night and talks about going back to paris i suppose i could do something over there for i've lost all impulse for my work perhaps we'll come and then you could run up and see us i'll try to be nice to you harry i will really you know there's always been something lacking in me i seem to have given everything to my painting so there's very little left for you which is the irish in me saying i'm a heartless hussy soon i'll be sending you the pair of gray socks which i knitted with my own hands they're bunchy in spots

and there's a knot or two here and there but i hope you can wear them for the dell's own time I had making them. Good night. I suppose that I should be feeling proud of my sacrifice. I don't somehow, but I'll be feeling glad if you have another bar to your shoulder. That might make me proud, knowing that I'd helped. Moira. P.S. Don't be getting killed or anything. I never wanted to marry anybody, but I don't want you done away with. Besides, I've a horror of crape. jim horton read the letter through furtively with a growing sense of intrusion it was like listening at a confessional or peering through a keyhole and somehow its ingenuous frankness aroused his interest harry had been married to this girl who didn't love him and she had consented because her father had wanted her to he felt unaccountably indignant on her account against harry and the father

pretty name moira like something out of a book she seemed to breathe both youth and hope tinged horribly with regret he liked her handwriting which had dashed into her thoughts impulsively and he also liked the slight scent of sachet which still clung to the paper he liked the girl better pitied her the more because her instinct had been so unerring if she had thrown herself away she had done it with her eyes wide open a girl who could make such a sacrifice from lofty motives would hardly condone the thing that harry had been guilty of a coward there was another letter of a much later in a masculine hand. Jim Horton hesitated for a moment and then took it out of its envelope. Hairy boy, he read. So far as I can see at this writing, the whole thing has gone to the diminution bow-wows. Suddenly, without a buy-your-leave, the money stopped coming. I wrote to V and cabled, but the devil of a reply did he give. So I'm coming to Paris with Moira at once and it looks as though we'd have to put the screws on but i'd be feeling better if the papers were all ship-shape and bristol fashion you'll have to help maybe the uniform will turn the odd trick if it don't we'll find some way

i feel guilty as hell about moira if you ever make her unhappy i'll have the blood of your heart but i'm hoping that the love will come if you play the game's with her meanwhile we'll feather the nest if we can he's got to come across there's some agency working against us and I've got to be on the scene to ferret instanter more got some portraits to do or we wouldn't have had the wherewithal for the passage as it is I'll be having to make the move with considerable skill leaving some obligations behind but it can't be helped and moira won't know the world is but a poor place for the man who doesn't make it give him a living mine has been wretched enough god knows and the whisky one buys over the bar in new york is an insult to an irishman's intelligence to say nothing of being a plague upon his vitals enough of this come to the rie de tavern number seven in your next furlough and we'll make a move by that time

i'll have a plan moira sends her love yours very faithfully barry quinlevin p s there was a pretty squall brewing over the stamford affair but i reef's sail and weathered it so you can sleep in peace b q jim horton lay for a while thinking and then read the two letters again the masculine correspondent was the girl's father barry quinlevin it seemed was a scoundrel of sorts and the girl adored him many of the passages in the letter were mystifying who was de v and what was harry's connection with this affair it was none of jim horton's business but in spite of himself he began to feel an intense sympathy for the girl moira who was wrapped in the coils of what seemed on its face to be an ugly intrigue if it wasn't something worse strange name quinloven it was moira's name too irish the phrase about having harry's heart's blood showed that berry quinlevin wasn't beyond compunctions about the girl but why had he connived at this loveless marriage there must have been a reason for that jim morden put the letters in the drawer and gave the problem up it wasn't his business whom harry had married or why the main thing was to get well and out of the hospital so that he could find his brother and set the tangle straight he couldn't imagine just how the substitution was to be accomplished but if harry had

played the game there was a chance that it might yet be done he didn't want harry's job and he silently cursed himself for the unfortunate impetuous moment that had had brought about all the trouble but how had he known that he was going to be hit if he had only succeeded in getting back to the spot where harry was waiting for him no one would ever have been the wiser no one knew now but of course the masquerade couldn't last forever the situation was impossible meanwhile what was harry doing had he succeeded in playing out the game during jim horton's sickness, or had he found himself in a tight place and quit? It would have been easy enough. Horton shivered slightly. Desertion, flight, ignominy, disgrace. And it wasn't Harry Horton's good name that would be in question, but his own, that of Jim Horton, corporal of engineers. As a name, it didn't stand for much yet. Even out in Kansas City, but he had never done anything to dishonor it and he didn't want the few friends he had to think of him as a quitter nobody had ever accused him of being that what a fool he had been to take such a chance for a man like harry

in the midst of these troublesome meditations he was aware of nurse newberry approaching from the end of the ward following her were two people who stopped at his bed a man and a man and and a girl the man was strong with grizzled hair a bobbed imperial and a waxed mustache the girl had black hair and slate blue eyes and even as jim horton stared at them he was aware of the man confidently approaching and taking his hand well harry don't you know me a voice said rather hazy eh i don't wonder who the devil were these people There must be a mistake. Jim Horton mumbled something. The visitor's eyes were very dark, brown, shot with tiny streaks of yellow, and he looked like an amiable sater. I've brought Moira, thought you'd like to see her.

The patient started, then recovered himself. He had forgotten the lapse of time since the letters had been written. Moira, he muttered. The girl advanced slowly as the man made place. Her expression had been serious, but as she came forward, she smiled softly. Harry, she was whispering, as he stared at her loveliness. Don't you know me? Moira, he muttered weakly.

I'm not, but his hands made no movement toward her, and a warm flush spread over the part of his face that was visible. You've been very sick, Harry, but we came as soon as they led us, and you're going to get well. thank the holy virgin and then i'm not the word stuck in jim horton's throat and he couldn't utter them you're not what she questioned anxiously another pause of uncertainty i-i'm not very strong yet he muttered weakly turning his head to one side and as he said it he knew that in sheer weakness of fiber spiritual as well as physical he had made a decision the satyr behind her laughed softly naturally he said but you're going to be well very soon they were both looking at him and something seemed to be required of him so with an effort how long how long have you been in france he asked only three weeks said quinlevin watching the bulletins daily for news of you i found out a week ago but they wouldn't let us in until to-day and we can stay only five minutes then moira spoke again with a different note in her voice are you glad that i came she asked it was the least i could do glad the word seemed sufficient jim horton seemed glad to utter it if she would only recognize the imposture and relieve him of the terrible moment of confession but she didn't she had accepted him as quinlevin as all the others had done for his face value without a sign of doubt and barry quinlevin stood beaming upon

them both his bright eyes snapping benevolence if you get the vc hairy boy she'll sure be worshipping you jim horton's gaze fixed as though fascinated upon the quiet slate-blue eyes saw them close for a moment in trouble while a quick little frown puckered the white forehead and when she spoke again her voice uttered the truth that was in her heart one cannot deny valor she said coolly it is the greatest thing in the world she wanted no misunderstandings she only wanted Harry Horton to know that love was not for her or for him the faker under the bedclothes understood she preferred to speak of valor valor if only she knew Jim Horton gathered courage if he wasn't to tell the truth he would have to play his part everybody is brave out there he said with a gesture but not brave enough for mention said quinloven genially it won't do harry boy a hero you were and a hero you'll remain horton felt the girl's calm gaze upon his face i'm so glad you've made good harry i am and i want you to believe it thanks he muttered Why did she gaze at him so steadily?

It almost seemed as though she had read his secret. He hoped that she had. It would have simplified things enormously, but she turned away with a smile. You're to come to us, of course, as soon as they let you out, she said quietly. Well, rather, laughed Quinlavin. The nurse had approached,

and the girl Moira had moved to the foot of the bed. Barry Quinlavin paused a moment, putting a slip of paper in Horton's hand. Well, all a while, old lad. In a few days again. The wounded man's gaze followed the girl. She smiled back once at him and then followed the nurse down the ward. Jim Horton sank back into his pillows with a gasp.

Well, now you've done it. Now you have gone and done it, he muttered. End of Chapter 1. Chapter 2 of The Splendid Outcast by George Gibbs. This Librevox recording is in the public domain recording by Tony Oliva. The mystery deepens. In a courageous moment a day or so later, the patient requested Nurse Newberry to try to get what information she could as to the whereabouts of his cousin, Corporal James Horton, b company blank engineers and waited with some impatience and anxiety the result of her inquiries she discovered that corporal james horton had been last seen in the fight for boisier wood

but was now reported as missing missing the blank expression on the face of her patient was rather pitiful it probably means that he's a prisoner he may be all right hq is pretty cold-blooded with its information but the patient knew that corporal Horton wasn't a prisoner if he was missing it was because he had gone to the rear nothing less than a deser nevertheless the information even indefinite as it was brought him comfort he clung rather greedily to its very indefiniteness in the eyes of the army or the world missing meant dead or prisoner and until harry revealed himself the good name of the corporal of engineers was safe that was something and the information brought the wounded man abruptly to the point of realizing that he was now definitely committed to play the role he had unwittingly

chosen he had done his best to explain but they hadn't listened to him and when confronted with the only witnesses whose opinions seem to matter, always accepting Harry himself, he had miserably failed in carrying out his first intentions. He tried to think of the whole thing as a joke, but he found himself confronted with possibilities which were far from amusing. The slate blue Irish eyes of Harry's war bride haunted him. They were eyes men. to be tender and yet were not her fine lips were meant for the full-throated laughter of happiness and yet had only wreathed in faint uncertain smiles barry quinlevin was a less agreeable figure to contemplate if jim horton hadn't read his letter to harry he would have found it easier to be beguiled by the man's genial air of good-fellowship and sympathy, but he couldn't forget the incautious phrases of that communication,

and having first formed an unfavorable impression, found no desire to correct it. To his surprise, it was Moira who came the following week to the hospital at Neyee on Visitor's Day. Jim Horton had decided on a course of action, but when she approached his bed, all redolent with the joy of out-of-doors he quite forgot what he meant to say to her in moira too he seemed to feel an effort to do her duty to him with a good grace which almost if not quite effaced the impression of her earlier visit she took his thin hand in her own for a moment while she examined him with a kindly interest which he repaid with a fraternal smile father sent me in his place she said i've put him to bed with a cold i'm so glad said horton and then stopped with a short laugh i mean i'm glad you're here i'm sorry he's ill nothing serious oh no he's a bit run down that's all and you you're feeling better he liked the soft way she slithered over the last syllable oh yes of course all the while he felt her level gaze upon him cool and intensely serious you are out of danger entirely they tell me i see they've taken the bandage off yesterday he said i'm coming along very fast i'm glad

they promise before long that i can get out into the air in a wheelchair that will do you all the good in the world in spite of himself he knew that his eyes were regarding her too intently noting the well-modelled nose the short upper lip firm red mouth and resolute chin all tempered with the softness of youth and exquisite femininity he saw her chin lowered slightly as her gaze dropped and turned aside while the slightest possible compression of her lips indicated a thought in which he could have no share i have brought you some roses she said quietly they are very beautiful they will remind me of you until you come again the sudden raising of her eyes as she looked at him over the blossoms was something of a revelation for they smiled at him with splendid directness you are improving she laughed or you've a blarney stone under the pillow i can't remember when you've said anything so nice as that at all he was thoughtful for a moment perhaps i have a new vision he said at last the bullet in my head may have helped it has probably affected my optic nerve she smiled with him you really do seem different somehow she broke in i can't exactly explain it perhaps it's the pallor that makes you eyes look dark and your voice it's softer entirely really he muttered uncomfortably his gaze on the gray blanket well you see i suppose it's what i've been through my eyes would seem darker wouldn't they against white and then my voice uh it isn't very strong yet yes that's it she replied her eyes daunted him from his purpose a little and he knew that he would have to use extreme caution but he had resolved whatever came to see the game through

after all if she discovered his secret it was only what he had tried in vain to tell her i'm sure of it he went on when a fellow comes as near death as i've been it makes him different i seem to think in a new way about a lot of things you for instance me he fancied that there was a hard note in her voice a little toss scarcely perceptible of the round chin yes you see you oughtn't ever to have married me you're too good for me i'm just a plain rotter and you oh what's the use he paused hoping that she would speak she did after a silence and a shrug father wanted it it was one way of paying what he owed you i don't know how much that was but i'm still thinking i went pretty cheap she halted abruptly and then went on coolly i didn't come here to be thinking unblessened thoughts or to be uttering them so long as we understand each other we do he put in eagerly almost appealingly i want you to believe that i have no claim upon you that my my relations with barry quinlevin will have nothing to do with you and if i fell in love with another man that never seems to have occurred to either of you he laughed her soberness aside as far as i'm concerned divorce or suicide aside i'll leave the choice to you he gained his purpose which was to bring the smile to her lips again your wounds have inoculated you with a sense of humor at any rate she said fingering the roses you've always been lacking in that you know i feel that i can laugh at them now but it might have been better for you if i hadn't come out of the ether no i don't like your saying that i haven't the slightest intention of falling in love with any man at all i shan't be wanting to marry really marry she added coloring a little i've begun my work it needed paris again and i'm going to succeed you'll see i haven't a doubt of it you were made for success and for happiness

sure and i think that i was now that you mention it she put in quaintly i won't bother you you can be certain of that if you finished positively and then cautiously things have not gone well financially i mean no and of course father's worried about it our income from ireland has stopped coming something about repairs he says but then i suppose we will get it again some day dad never did tell me anything you know horton thought for a moment he doesn't want to worry you of course and you oughtn't to be worried things will come out all right i intend that they shall father always gave me the best when he had it i'll see that he doesn't suffer now but that's my job moira we'll get some money together some way when i get out thanks but i'm hoping to do a lot of painting i've got one portrait to begin on and it doesn't cost much in the cartier horton set up in bed and looked out of the window i'll get some money he said don't you worry he saw her eyes studying him quietly and he sank back at once in bed out of the glare of the sunlight he wondered if he had gone too far but he had found out one of the things that he had wanted to know she knew nothing of what berry quinlevin was doing her next remark was disquieting it's very strange the way i'm thinking about you you've grown different in the army or is it the sickness there's a sweeter look to your mouth and a firm a turn to your jaw your gaze is wider and your heart has grown soft with the suffering

it's like another man i'm seeing somehow harry and i'm glad suffering yes perhaps he muttered she leaned forward impulsively and put her hand over his smiling brightly at him we'll be good friends now alonov i'm sure of it you like me a little better sure and i wouldn't be sitting here holding hands if i didn't she laughed then with a quick glance at her wristwatch she rose and now i must be going back to father here's the nurse time is up you will come soon again he asks slowly yes with better news i hope or revue ma'ambrow and she was gone the visit gave him more food for thought but he hadn't learned much what he did know now was that the girl moira trusted berry quinlevin implicitly and that he had managed to keep her in ignorance as to the real sources of his livelihood the irish rents had failed to reach them were there any irish rents and if so what had de viz to do with him. He took Quinlivan's letter from under the pillow and re-read it carefully. Nothing about Irish rinse there. Perhaps other letters had followed that Harry had destroyed. In any case, he would have to play the game carefully with the girl's father, or Quinlavin would find him out

before Horton discovered what he wanted to know. The quiet eyes of the girl Moira disturbed him. her eyes her intuitions were shrewd yet he had succeeded so far if he could pass muster with the daughter why shouldn't he succeed with the father the weakness the failing memory of a sick man could be trusted to bridge difficulties if there had only been a few more letters he would have been better equipped for the interview with barry quinlevin which must soon follow. He inquired of Miss Newberry, but she had given him everything that had been found in his uniform. He scrutinized the notebook carefully, which contained only an expense account, some addresses in Paris, and a few military notes, and so he discarded it. It seemed that until Quinlavin came to the hospital, DeVie must remain one of the unsolved mysteries of his versatile brother. But Moira's innocence, while it failed to enlighten him as to the mystery,

made him more certain that her loveless marriage with Harry had something to do with the suspected intrigue. Did Harry love the girl? It seems scarcely possible that any man who was half a man could be much with her without loving her. It wasn't like Harry to marry any girl unless he had something to gain by it. The conversation he had just had with Moira showed exactly the relationship between them if he had needed any further evidence than her letter. As to his own personal relations with Moira, he found it necessary to fortify himself against a more than strictly fraternal interest in her personality. She was extremely agreeable to look at and he had to admit that her very present had cheered up his particular part of the hospital ward. Amazingly, her quaintness, her quiet directness,

and her modest demeanor were inherent characteristics, but they could not disguise the overflowing vitality and humor that struggled against the limitations she had imposed. Her roses, which Nurse Newberry had arranged in a bull by the bedside, were unnecessary. reminders of the giver like them she was fragrant pristine and beautiful altogether a much-to-be-desired sister-in-law the visit of berry quinlevin was not long delayed and jim horton received him in his wheelchair by an open window in the convalescent ward he came in with a white silk handkerchief tied about his neck but barring a husky voice showed no ill-effects of his indisposition. He was an amiable-looking rogue, and if the shade of Whistler will forgive me, resembled much that illustrious person in all the physical graces. It would be quite easy to imagine that Barry Quinlavin could be quite as dangerous an enemy. Well, Harry Boy, here I am. He announced, throwing open his coat with something of an air and loosening his skirt,

no worse that the devil made me and you're well again they tell me or so near it that you're no longer interesting stronger every day replied horton cautiously then we can have a talk maybe without danger of it breaking the spring of your belfry ah yes but i'm a bit hazy at times added horton well when the fog comes down say the word and i'll be going don't worry i want to hear the news quinlevin frowned at his walking-stick it's little enough god knows then glanced toward the invalid at the next window and lowered his voice a trifle this palpene says not a word or he's afflicted with pen paralysis for i've written him three times twice since i reached paris and given him the address so he'll have to make a move what will you do go to see him or you can at first you see i thought maybe he'd gone away or died or something but i watched the hotel de vaughan and the reed de vacques until i saw him with my own eyes that's how i took this bronchitis in the night air with devil a drink within a mile of me i saw him i tell you as hale and hearty as ye please and debonair like a new laid egg with me bury quinlevin in the rain not four paces from the carriageway the visitor paused as though for a comment and horton offered it he didn't see you devil a-win of me for the moment i thought of bracing him then and there but i didn't though i was reduced to a small matter of a hundred francs or so things are as bad as that quinlevin shrugged i bettered myself a bit the next night and i'll find a way

he broke off with a shrug but i'm not going to be wasting my talents on the little officer boys in guillaume's besides twould be most unpatriotic i'm out for a bigger game me son that spells itself in seven figures nothing less than a coup d'etat will satisfy the ambitions of barry quinlevin well asked horton shrewdly for the present you're to stay where you are till your head is as tight as a drum giving me the benefit of your sage advice we'll worry along the rent of the apartment and studio is a meager two hundred francs And the food, well, we'll eat enough, and Moira has some work to do. But we can't be letting the Duke forget I've ever existed. A man with a reputation in jeopardy and twenty millions of francs, you'll admit, is not to be found growing on every mulberry bush. Horton nodded.

It was blackmail then, the Duke de Votrins. You wrote that you had a plan, he said. What is it? barry kwinlevin waved a careless hand fair means as one gentleman uses to another if he explains his negligence and remits the small balance otherwise we'll have to squeeze him a letter from a good lawyer if it wasn't for the testimony of nora burke he was silent for a moment of puzzled retrospection and his glittering generalities only piqued jim horton's curiosity so that his eagerness led him into an error that nearly undid him. Nora Burke, he put in slowly. I wrote you what happened.

I couldn't have received the letter. He stopped abruptly, for Quinlivan was staring at him in astonishment. Then how the devil could you have answered it? Horton covered the awkward moment by closing his eyes and passing his fingers across his brow. Answered it. Funny, I don't remember. The Irishman regarded him a moment soberly, and then smiled in deprecation. Of course, you slipped a cog.

Then suddenly he clapped a hand on Horton's knee. Why man alive, Nora Burke, the Irish nurse who provides unnecessary testimony, Moira's nurse, do you mind when she was a baby, who saw that Duke's child die? Now do you remember? Horton ran his fingers over his hair, thought, and bent his head again. Nora Burke, Moira's nurse, who saw the Duke's child die, he repeated parrot-like, and the Duke de Votran, he muttered and paused.

Thinks his child by this early marriage is still alive, said Quinlavin, regarding him dubiously. Yes, yes, said Horton eagerly, it's coming back to me now, and Votron's money. He'll pay through the nose to keep the think quiet, and less. Barry Quinloven paused, unless what? There was a moment of silence in which the visitor frowned out of the window. I don't like the look of things, I tell you, Harry, you're in no fit shape to help till the fog clears up, but I the mind that some body's slipped a finger into the pie. Nora Burke wants more money, 500 pounds to tell a straight story and where I'm going to get it the devil himself only knows. Nora Burke, 500 pounds, muttered Horton vaguely, for he was thinking

deeply, that's a lot of money. You're right, when you haven't got it. And de Votrins shutting down at the same time, he looked suspicious. I tell you. He broke off and fixed his iridescent gaze on Horton. You're sure you said nothing to anyone in Paris before you went to the front? Of this, at Jim Horton was sure. Nothing, he replied. Not to Piquette Morin? Here was dangerous ground again. Nothing, he repeated slowly. Nothing. And ye wouldn't be remembering it if you had, said Quinlavin peevishly as he rose. Oh, well, I'll have to raise this money some way or go to Galway to put the gag on Nora Burke until we play the trick. I, sorry I can't help, said Horton. But you see, I'm not. Oh yes, I see, said Quinlavin more affably.

I shouldn't be bothering ye so soon. But may the devil take me if I know which way to turn. Will you see de Votrand? Perhaps. I may go to Ireland first. I've got to do some thinking alone. Goodbye. You're not up to the mark. Be careful when Moira comes, or you may let the cat out of the bag. You hear? Don't worry, I won't, said Horton soberly. He watched the tall figure of Quinlavin until it disappeared into the outer hall, and then turned a frowning gaze out of the window. End of Chapter 2. Chapter 3 of The Splendid Outcast by George Gibbs. This Lieberbox recording is in the public domain, recording by Tony Oliva. The Goose jim horton had had a narrow escape from discovery but in spite of his precarious position and the pitfalls that seemed to lay right and left he had become if anything more determined than ever to follow the fate to which he had committed himself

there now seemed no doubt that moira was in all innocence involved in some way in the blackmailing scheme which had been the main source of livelihood for the quinlevin family for many years and moira did not know for the duke de vaughtron of course was the source of the irish rents to which she had alluded and now he was refusing to pay it was clear that something unpleasant hung in the air an ill wind for the duke de vaughtron and for the plotters moira's father and jim horton's precious brother and it seemed quite necessary in the interests of honesty that he jim horton should remain for the present in the game and divert if possible the currents of evil which encompassed his interesting sister-in-law one thing he had learned that by taking refuge behind the barriers of his failing memory, it might be possible to keep up the deception, at least until he was out of the hospital and a crisis of some sort came to relieve him of his responsibility. Indeed, there was something most agreeable in the friendly regard of his brother's loveless wife, and under other circumstances the calls of this charming person would have been the source of unalloyed delight for as the days passed more and more she threw off the restraint of her earlier visits and they had now reached a relationship of understanding and good fellowship most delightful and unusual in its informality jim horton was progressing rapidly and except for occasional lapse

of memory easily explained and perfectly understood by his visitors gained health and strength until it was no longer a question of weeks but of days when he should be able to leave the hospital and accept the invitation of his newly discovered relatives to visit the studio apartment he had made further efforts through the hospital authorities to find some trace of the missing man but without success and in default of any definite plan of action chose to follow the line of least resistance until something should happen barry quinlevin visited him twice but spoke little of the affair of the duke de vaughtrain which it seemed was being held in abeyance for the moment preferring to wait until the brain and body of the injured man could help him to plan and to execute and jim horton finding that safety lay in silence or fatigue did little further to encourage his confidences thus it was that after several weeks he impatiently awaited moira outside the hospital it was a gorgeous afternoon of blue and gold with the haze of indian summer hanging lazily over the peaceful autumn landscape an aromatic odor of burning leaves was in the air and about him aged men and women worked in road and garden as though the alarms of war had never come to their ears the signing of the armistice which had taken place while horton was still in his bed had been the cause of much quiet joy throughout the hospital but with the return of health jim horton had begun wondering what effect the peace was to have upon his strange fortunes and upon heaven he knew that for the present he had been granted a furlough which he was to spend with the quinlovens in paris but after that what was to happen he was a little dubious too about his relations with moira

but when he saw her coming down the path to the open-air pavilion with nurse newberry all flushed with the prospect of carrying him off in triumph in the ancient fiacra from which she had descended he could not deny a thrill of pleasure that was not all fraternal behold mon ami she cried in greeting i come to take yer prisoner he laughed gaily as he took her hand and there's a goose in the pantry bought at a fabulous price just waiting for the pan be sure you don't kill your prisoner with kindness put in nurse newberry i'll take that risk said horton genially sure he must put in moira it isn't every day one brings a conquering hero home especially when he's your husband said the artless miss newberry wistfully jim horton had a glimpse of the color that ran like a flame up moira's throat to her brow but he glanced quickly away and busied himself with a buckle at his belt i want to thank you miss newberry he said soberly for all that you've done for me i'll never forget nor i lieutenant horton but you're in better hands than mine now a week or so and you'll be as strong as ever i've never felt better in my life he replied they moved toward the conveyance shook hands with the nurse and with harry's baggage which had just been sent down from regimental headquarters upon the box beside the rubicund and rotund coacher they drove out of the gates and toward the long finger of the eiffel tower which seemed to beckoning to them across the blue haze above the roof-torned neither of them spoke for a moment in the ward in the convalescent rooms or even in the grounds of the hospital moira had been a visitor with a mission of charity and cheer here in the fiacra the basis of their relationship seemed suddenly and quite mysteriously to change whether moira felt it or not he did not know for she looked out of her window at the passing scene and her partly averted profile revealed nothing of her thoughts

but the fact that they were for the first time really alone and driving to moira's paris apartment gave him a qualm of guilt on account of the impossible situation that he had created he had he thought shown her deep gratitude and respect and had succeeded in winning the friendship that harry had perhaps taken too much for granted it had given jim horton pleasure to think that moira now really liked him for himself alone and the wholeheartedness of her good fellowship had given him every token of her spirit of conciliation she had had had her moods of reserve before like the one of her present silence but the abundance of her vitality and sense of humor had responded unconsciously to his own and they had drawn closer with the artless grace of two children thrown upon their own resources and now here in the ramshackle vehicle for the first time alone jim horton would have very much liked to take her by the hand which lay most temptingly upon the seat beside him and tell her the truth but that meant harry's disgrace the anguish of her discovering that such a friendship as this with her own husband could never be for in her eyes jim horton had seen her own courage and a contempt for all things that harry was or could ever hope to be and so with an effort he folded his arms resolutely and stared out of his window it was then that her voice recalled him can't you smell that goose harry dear she said he flashed a quick smile at her just can't i he laughed and you're to help me cook it and vegetables and coffee you know she finished nothing ever tastes quite so good as when you cook it yourself and you do all the cooking he asked thoughtfully

sometimes but more often we go to a caf sometimes madame tupin helps the concierge but father thinks my cooking is the best i don't doubt it i shall too and then where is your father to-day she looked at him eyes wide as those suddenly reminded i forgot she gasped he asked me to tell you that he was obliged to be leaving for ireland about the Irish rants. Isn't it tiresome? Oh, said Horton quietly, I see. He turned his thoughtful gaze out of the carriage window into the Avenue de New Ye. The situation had its charm, but he had counted on the presence of Barry Quinlavin. How long will he be gone, he asked. I don't know, she replied, a week or more, perhaps, but I'll try to make you comfortable. I've wanted so to have everything nice he smiled at her warmth you forget that that i've learned to be a soldier moira a blanket on the floor of the studio and i'll be as happy as a king no you shall have the best that there is the very best mon ami i don't propose to let you work for me moira i can get some money i can find a ponsione somewhere near and she turned toward him suddenly her eyes very close to tears do you wish to make me unhappy when i've tried so hard to to moira he caught her hand to his lips and kissed it gently i didn't mean

i've wanted so for you to forget how unkind i had been to you to make this seem like a real home-coming after all you've been through and now to hear you talking of going to a pension moira i thought it might be inconvenient that it might be more pleasant for you he broke down miserably she released her fingers gently and turned away sure alanath and i think that i should be the judge of that she said we'll say no more about it he muttered but i i'm very grateful moira's lips wreathed into an adorable smile i've been thinking the war has done something to you harry and now i'm sure of it you have been learning to think of somebody beside yourself i'd be pretty rotten if i hadn't learned to do some thinking about you he said as he looked into her eyes with more hardihood than wisdom she met his gaze for the fraction of a minute and then raised her chin and laughed merrily up at the broad back of the coacher yes you've changed harry dear god knows how or why but you've changed you'll be paid me some compliments upon my pulcritude and heavenly virtues by and by why shouldn't i he insisted soberly when her laughter subsided your loveliness is only the outward and visible sign of the inward and spiritual grace i'm so sure of it that i don't care whether you laugh or not am i lovely you think so well it's nice to hear even if it only makes conversation also that my nose is not so bad even if it does turn piously to heaven but there's a deep dent in my chin which means that i've got a bit of the devil in me ad says to him so that you'd better do just what i want you to

i will have a fallen out and that would be a pity because the goose he laughed as gaily as she had done i the notion moira he said that it's my goose you're going to cook and i the notion she said poising a slim gloved finger for a second upon his knee i've a notion that we're both going to cook him it seemed too much like a prophecy to be quite to his liking her moods were protean and her rapid transitions bewildered and yet under them all he realized how sane she was how honest with him and with herself and how free from any guile she trusted him entirely as one good friend would trust another and the thought of any evil coming to her through his strange venture into harry's shoes made him most unhappy but her pretty dream of a husband with whom she could at least be on terms of friendship must some day come to an end and yet suppose the report that harry was missing meant that he was dead a bit of shrapnel a bull he didn't wish it but that chance was within the range of the possible they had passed down the avenue of the grand army into the place de l'etol and were now in the magnificent reaches of the chants elizier jim horton had only been in paris for five hours between trains little more than long enough to open an account at a bank but moira chattered on gaily with the point of view of an enteem showing him the places which they must visit together throwing in a word of history here an incident or adventure there giving the places they passed the personality of her point of view

highly tinged with the artist's idealism from her talk he gathered that she had lived much in paris during all her student days and except for the little corner in ireland where she had been born and which she had visited from time to time loved it better than any place in the world and i shall teach you to speak french harry the real argo of the cartier and you shall love it as i do i do speak it a little already he ventured really and who was your instructress the dropping intonation was sudden and very direct jim horton looked at a little out of the window he was sure that Harry wouldn't have been able to meet her gaze no one he muttered at least no girl that's the truth we had books and things oh she finished dryly her attitude in this matter was a revelation the incidents seemed to clarify their relations and in a new way for in a moment she was conversing again in a manner most unconcerned friendly she might be with Harry for the sake of things that that he had accomplished, companionable and kind, for the sake of the things he had suffered,

but as for any deeper feeling, that was another matter. Moira was no fool. But at least she trusted him now. She dared to trust him. Otherwise, why did she conduct him with such an air of unconcern to the apartment in the Rue de Tavenes?

But he couldn't be unaware of the alertness in her unconcern. an occasional quick and furtive side glance which showed that however friendly she was still on her guard perhaps she wanted to study this newly discovered harry at closer range but why had she chosen the venture he had given her her chance why had she refused to take it the answers to these questions were still puzzling him when they drove up the hill by the boulevard st michel bulmichet she called it reached the luxembourg gardens and then turning into a smaller street were presently deposited at their porte her air of gaiety was infectious and she presented him to the good madame tupin who came out to meet the with the air of one greeting an ambassador welcome monsieur le lieutenant madame horton has promised us this visit since a long time merci madame enter monsieur this house is honored thank the bon die for the americans jim horton bowed and followed moira into the small court and up the stairway experiencing a new sense of guilt at having his name coupled so familiarly with Moira's, Harry's name too, and yet the circumstances of the marriage were so

strange, the facts as to her actual relations with her husband so patent that he found himself resenting Moira's placid acceptance of the appellation. There was something back of it all that he did not know, but Moira gave him no time to think of the matter, conducting him into the large studio and showing him through the bedroom and kitchen where she proudly exhibited her goose and Jim Hortons that she was to cook and after he had deposited his luggage in a room nearby which he was to occupy she removed her gloves in a business-like manner took off her hat and coat and invited him into the kitchen allon monsieur she said gaily in french as she rolled up her sleeves we shall now cook a goose in this modern apparatus so kindly furnish by the compagnie de gas there's a large knife in the drawer you will now help me to cut up the potatoes gillienne and the carrots which we shall stew

then some lettuce and a beautiful dessert from the patisserie and a demi-tas what more can the soul of man desire ryanne he replied with a triumphant grin of understanding from behind the dishpan absolutely rianne ah you do understand she cried in english was she a blond sundry or dark with slow eyes or red-haired if she was red-haired harry i'll be scratching her eyes out no he shook his head and laughed she was black and white and her name was ol'lund you still persist in that deception i do you're almost too proficient you had better not try me too far she smiled brightly at him over the foul which she was getting ready for the pan stuffing it with a dressing already prepared i wonder how far i might be trying you harry dear she said mischievously he glanced at her i don't know he said quixing quietly but i think i've learned something of the meaning of patience in the army then god be praised she ejaculated with air of piety putting the fowl into the pan here cut slice to your heart's content thin like jack straws but spare your fingers she set him in a chair and saw him begin while she prepared the salad patience is by way of being a virtue she resumed quizzically her pink fingers weaving among the lettuce leaves and then so they taught you that in the army they did and did you never get tired of being patient harry dear

he met the issue squarely you may try me as far as you like moira he said quietly i owe you that she hadn't bargained for such a counter oh she muttered and diligently examined a doubtful lettuce leaf by the fading light of the small window while horton sliced scrupulously at his potato and when the goose was safely over the flame she quickly disappeared into the studio he couldn't make her out it seemed that a devil was in her a mischievous beautiful tantalizing little irish she-devil bent on psychological investigation also he had never before seen her with her hat off and he discovered that he liked her hair. It had bluish tints that precisely matched her eyes. He finished his last potato with meticulous diligence, and then quickly rose and followed her into the studio where a transformation had already taken place, a table over which a white cloth had been thrown, had been drawn out near the big easel, and upon it were plates, glasses, knives, and forks, and candles with rose-colored shades, and thereof, was even a bowl of flowers in the hearth faggots were crackling and warmed the cool shadows from the big north light already violet with the falling dusk

welle monsieur we are now chienu is it not pleasant it was and he said so you like my studio it's great and the portrait may i see no it doesn't go enceaule a french dowager who brave the the folkers when all her family were frusar fled in terror she deserves immortality and you were not afraid of the bombardments hardly not after all the trouble we had getting here horrors she broke off suddenly and catching him by the hand dashed for the kitchen whence came an appetizing odor the goose we forgot the goose she cried and proceeded to baste it skillfully she commended his potatoes and bade him stir them in the pan while she made the salad dressing, much oil, a little vinegar, paprika, salt in a bowl with a piece of ice at the end of a fork. He watched her curiously with the eyes of inexperience as she brought all the various operations neatly to a focus. Alon, it is done, she said, finally in French. Go thou and sit at the table and I will serve. But he wouldn't do that and helped her to dish the dinner,

bringing it in and placing it on the table. And at last they were seated, vis-à-vis, Horton with his back to the fire, the glow of which played a pretty game of hide and seek with the shadows of her face. He let her carve the goose, and she did it skillfully while he served the vegetables. They ate and drank to each other in Vain Ordinaire,

which was all that Moira could afford, after the prodigal expenditure for the pieste resistance moira her face a little flushed talked gaily while the spurious husband opposite sat watching her and grinning comfortably he couldn't remember when he had been quite so happy in his life or quite so conscience-stricken and so he fell silent after a while every impulse urging confession and yet not daring it illustration moira talked gaily they took their coffee by the embers of the fire the light from the great north window had long since expired and the mellow glow of the candles flickered softly on polished surfaces suddenly moira stopped talking and realized that as she did so silence had fallen her companion had sunk deep into his chair his gaze on the gallery above a frown tangling his forehead she glanced at him quickly and then looked away something was required of him and so why have you done all this for me he asked gently she smiled and their glances met because because because you thought it a duty no easily it wasn't really that duty is such a tiresome word to do one's duty is to do something one does not want to do don't i seem to be having a good time i hope you are i'm not likely to forget your charity your charity i don't like that word

it is charity moira i don't deserve it the words were casual but they seemed to illumine the path ahead for she broke out impetuously i didn't think you did i pitied you over there for what you'd been and almost if not quite loathed you for the hold you seemed to have on father i don't know what the secret was or how much he owed you but i know that he was miserable i think i must have been hating you a great deal harry dear and yet i married you why did you he muttered i had no right to ask even a war marriage god knows she said with a quick gasp as she bowed her head. You had made good at the camp. I think it was the regimental band at Yapank that brought me around. And then you seemed so pathetic and wishful.

I got to thinking you might be killed. Father wanted it. And so, she paused and sighed deeply. Well, I did it. It was the most that I could give for liberty. She raised her head proudly and stared into the glowing embers. for liberty you gave your own freedom he murmured it was mad quixotic she broke in again a horrible sacrilege i did not love could not honor had no intention of obeying you she stopped suddenly and hid her face in her hands he thought that she was in tears but he did not dare to touch her though he leaned toward her his fingers groping presently she took her hands down and threw them out in a wild jet it is merciless what i'm saying to you but you let loose the floodgates and i had to speak he leaned closer and laid his fingers over hers it was a mistake he said i would do anything to repair it

he meant what he said and the deep tones of his voice vibrated close to her ear she did not turn to look at him and kept her gaze on the fire but she breathed uneasily and then closed her eyes a moment as though in deep thought, Don't you believe me, Moira? She glanced at him and then leaned forward away toward the fire. I believe that I do, she replied slowly. I don't know why it is that I should be thinking so differently about you, but I do.

You see, if I hadn't trusted you, we'd never have been sitting here in this night. I gave you your chance to be alone. Yes, you did that. I couldn't let you be going to a ponsion, Harry. I think it was a pity for your pale face against the pillows. Nothing else, he asked quietly. His hand had taken the fingers on the chair arm, and she did not withdraw them at once.

Sure, and maybe it was the plarnie. I've meant what I've said, he whispered in spite of himself. You're the loveliest girl in all the world. There was a moment of silence in which her hand fluttered uneasily in his, while a gentle color came into her face. Then abruptly she withdrew her fingers and sprang up, her face aflame. Go along with you. You'll be making love to me next. He sank back into his chair silent perturbed as he realized that this was just what was in his heart. Come, she laughed. We've got all the dishes to wash.

and then you're to be getting to bed or your head will be aching in the morning allon she brought him to himself with a clear cool note of camaraderie and with a short laugh and a shrug which hid a complexity of feeling he followed her into the kitchen with the dishes but a restraint had fallen between them moira worked with a business-like air rather overdoing it and jim horton sure that he was a blackguard of sorts wiped the dishes she handed to him and then obediently followed her to the room off the hall where his baggage had been carried she put the candle on the table and gave him her frankest smile sleep sound my dear for to-morrow i'll be showing you the sights good-night moira he said gently. D'orme bien. And she was gone. He stood staring at the closed door, aware of the sharp click of the latch, and the faint firm tap of her high heels diminishing along the hall, then the closing of the studio door, for a long while he stood there, not moving, and then mechanically took out a cigarette, tapping it against the back of his hand. only the urge of a light for his cigarette from the candle at last made him turn away then he sank upon the edge of the bed and smoked for a while his brows furrowed in thought

nothing that harry had ever done seemed more despicable than the part that he had chosen to play he was winning her friendship her esteem something even finer than these perhaps for harry as harry borrowers from their tragic marriage the right to this strange intimacy if her dislike of him had only continued if she had tolerated him even or if she had been other than she was his path would have been smoother but she was making it very difficult for him he paced the floor again for a while until his cigarette burnt his fingers then he walked to the window opened it and looked out it was early yet only eleven o'clock the thought of sleep annoyed him so he took up his cap blew out the candle and went quietly out into the hall and down the stairs he wanted to be alone with his thoughts away from the associations of the studio to assume his true guise as an alien and an enemy to this girl who had learned to trust him the cool air of the courtyard seemed to clear his thoughts in all honor in all decency he must discover some way of finding his brother harry expose the ugly intrigue and then take harry's place and go out into the darkness of ignominy and disgrace that would require some courage he could see more than it had taken to go out against the bosh machine gunners in the darkness of wosier wood but there didn't seem to be anything else to do if he wanted to preserve his own self-respect. But of what value was self-respect to a man publicly disgraced? And unless he could devise some miracle that would enable him to come back from the dead, a miracle that would stand the test of a

rigid army investigation, the penalty of his action was death, or at least a long term of imprisonment in a federal prison from which he would emerge, a broken and ruined. And ruined man of middle age. This alternative was not cheering, and yet he faced it bravely. He would have to find Harry. The feat was not difficult, for as he emerged from the gate of the Port Coucher of the concierge, and turned thoughtfully down the darkened street outside, a man in a battered slouch hat and civilian clothes approached from the angle of a wall and faced him. What the age are you doing at number seven rue de tavens said a voice gruffly jim horton started back at the sound now aware that fortune had presented him with his alternative for the man in the slouch hat was his brother harry end of chapter three chapter four of the splendid outcast by george gibbs this librovoc's recording is in the public domain recording by tony oliva

outcast when jim horton corporal of engineers took his twin brother's uniform and moved off into the darkness toward the german lines harry horton remained as his brother had left him bewildered angry and still very much afraid the idea of taking jim horton's place with his squad nearby did not appeal to him the danger of discovery was too obvious and soon perhaps the squad would have to advance into the dreadful curtain of black that would spout fire and death he was fed up with it the baptism of fire in the afternoon had shaken him when they lay in the field it was the grinning head of lavinsky of the fourth squad that had done the business he had found it staring at him in the wheat as the platoon crawled forward it wasn't so much of the squad that had done the business he had found it staring at him in the wheat as the platoon crawled forward it wasn't so much that it was an isolated head as that it was the isolated head of Levinsky for he hadn't liked Levinsky and he knew that the man had hated him and now Levinsky had had his revenge Harry had been deathly ill at the stomach and had not gone forward with the platoon he had seen the whites of the eyes of his men as they had glanced aside at him and spet

why the h he had ever gone into the thing and now suppose jim didn't come back what should he do why had the major picked him out for this duty his thoughts wondered wildly from one fancied injury to another and jim it was like him to turn up and plunge into this wild venture that would probably bring them both to court-martial and if jim was shot what the devil was he to do go on through the service as Jim Horton, Corporal of Engineers. He cursed silently while he groveled in the gully, waiting for the shots that were to decide his fate. For a moment, he gathered nerve enough to pick up Jim's rifle and accoutrement with the intention of joining the squad of engineers. But just at that moment, there were sounds of shots within the wood,

wood followed by others closer at hand and then bullets ripped viciously through the foliage just above him by a movement just ahead of him he knew that the line was advancing he couldn't his knees refused him so he crawled into the thicket along the gully and lay upon the ground among the fallen leaves more shots cries all about him a grunt of pain after a shrapnel burst near by the the rush of feet as the second wave filtered through then the rapid crackle of the engagement in the wood jim was there in his uniform he'd be taking long chances too he had always been a fool from his cover he marked the dawn while the fighting raged then sunrise the fire seemed to slacken and then move farther away the line was still advanced the line was still advanced and only the wounded were coming in some of them walking cases with bandaged heads and arms he eyed them through the bushes furtively vengefully why couldn't he have gotten a wound like that in the afternoon in the wheatfield instead of finding the head of lavincki and the terror that it had brought other wounded were coming on stretchers now the galley near him made an easy path to the plain below and many of them pass near him but he lay very still beneath the leaves what if jim came back on a stretcher what should he do then suddenly as though in answer to his question two men emerged from the hollow above and approached carrying something between them there was a man of harry's own platoon and a sergeant of the company he heard their voices and at the sound of them he cowered lower

some say he showed yellow yesterday in the wheatfield said the private yellow they'd better not let me hear him saying it they were talking about him harry horton and the figure lying awkwardly a shapeless mass at the risk of discovery the cowardly the coward's straightened and peered down into the white face Jim. Harry Horton didn't remember anything very distinctly for a while after that, for his thoughts were much confused. But out of the chaos emerged the persistent instinct of self-preservation. There was no use trying to find Jim's squad now. He wouldn't know them if he saw them. And how could he explain his absence with no wound to show? For a moment, The desperate expedient occurred to him of thrusting himself through the leg with the bayonet. He even took Jim's weapon out of its scabbard. But the blue steel gave him a touch of the nausea that had come over him in the wheatfield.

That wouldn't do. And what was the use? They had Harry Horton lying near death on the stretcher. What mattered? What happened to the brother? There was no chance now to exchange identity. perhaps there was never to be a chance he sank down again into the thicket pulling the leaves about him he would find a way it could be managed missing that was the safest way out that night limping slightly he emerged and made his way to the rear it was ridiculously easy of the men he met he asked the way to the billets of the blitz

regiment but he didn't go where they told him he followed their instructions until out of sight of them and then went in the opposite direction he managed at last to get some food at a small farmhouse and under the pretext of having been sent to borrow peasant clothing for the intelligence department managed to get a pair of trousers shirt coat and hat he had buried his rifle the night before and now when the opportunity came he dropped the bundle of jim horton's corporal's uniform weighted by a stone into deep water from a bridge over a river with the splash corporal james horton of the engineers had ceased to exist at the end of two weeks thanks to some money that he had found in jim's uniform and a great deal of good luck he was safe in a quiet pastoral country far from the battle line here he saw no uniforms only old men and women in blouses and sabos occupying themselves with the harvest aware only that the bosh were in retreat and that their own fields were forever safe from invasion he represented himself as an american art student of paris driven by poverty from the city and offered to work for board and lodging they took him and there he stayed for a while there was a girl in the family it was very pleasant the nearest town was st florentine and paris was a hundred miles away

but after a few weeks he wearied of it and of the girl and having twenty francs left in his pocket stole away in the middle of the night paris was the place for him there identities were not questioned he knew something of paris piquette morin he could get her help without telling any unnecessary facts as to barry quinlevin and moira that was different it wouldn't be pleasant to fall completely in the power of a man like barry quinlevin even if he was now his father-in-law and moira no moira mustn't ever know if he could prevent it and yet if jim horton in harry's uniform had been killed harry would be officially dead he was already dead to moira if jim horton had revived enough to tell the truth it wasn't a pretty story to be spread around but if jim were alive what then there were ways of getting along in paris he would find a way even if moira he would have liked to be able to go to moira she was the one creature in the world whose opinion seemed to matter now she would have been his on the next furlough he knew women if you couldn't get them one way you could another already her letters had been gentler more conciliatory his wife the wife of an outcast god why had he ever gone into the service how had he known back there that he was wouldn't have been able to stand up under fire that he would have found the grinning head of the hated levinski in the wheatfield waves of goose flesh went over him and left him cold and weak a sullen mood

followed dull embittered and vengeful against all the world with only one hope if jim were alive and silent That opened possibilities to substitute with his brother and come back to his own with all the honors of the full performance. It was his name, his job that Jim had taken, and his brother couldn't keep him out of them. He could make Jim give them up. He'd make him. If he couldn't come back himself, he would drag Jim down with him. They would be outcast together. in the dark that night he would have managed in some way to carry out the major's orders if jim hadn't found him just at the worst moment what right had jim to go budding in and making a fool of them both ding him

he found his way into paris at the end of a dreary day of tramping he had a few francs left but he was tired and very hungry with a lie framed he went straight to the apartment of piquette she had gone out of the town for a few days that failure baffled him he had a deposit in a bank but he dared not draw it out so he trudged the weary way up to montmartre saving his soos and hired a bed into which he dropped more dead than alive thus it was that two nights later unable yet to bring himself to the point of begging from passers-by with scant hope in deed of success his weary feet brought him at last to the rue de taverns hiding his face under the shadow of his hat he inquired of the concierge and found that the apartment of madame horton was o'toiseem he strolled past the port cocher and walked on looking hungrily up at the lighted windows of the studio moira was there his wife barry quinl perhaps who else he heard sounds of laughter from somewhere upstairs laughter the bitterness of it but it didn't sound like moira's voice he walked to and fro watching the lighted windows and the entrance of the concierge trying to keep up the circulation of his blood for the night was chill and his clothing thin he had no plan but he was very hungry and his resolution to remain unknown was weakening a man couldn't let himself slowly starve and yet to seek out anyone he knew meant discovery and the horrible publicity that must follow the lights of the twasiem etage held a fascination for him like that of a flame for a moth he saw a figure come to a window and throw open the sash he stared unable to believe his eyes it was a man in the uniform of an officer of the united

States Army, his own uniform and the man who wore it was his brother Jim. Alive, well, covered with honors, perhaps, here in Moira's apartment? What had happened to bring his brother here? And Moira, his head whirled with weakness, and he stood for a moment leaning against the wall, but his strength came back to him in a moment, and he peered up at the window again. The light had gone out. Jim, masquerading in his shoes with Moira as her husband, alone, perhaps, in the apartment, and Moira, the words of conciliation in her last letters which had seemed to promise so much for the future had a different significance here. Fury shook him like a leaf, the fury of desperation, that for the moment drove from his craven heart all fear of an encounter with his brother. There,

was the sound of a door shutting and in a moment he saw the man in uniform emerge by the gate of the concierge he walked toward the outcast his head bent in deep meditation there was no doubt about its being jim with clenched fists harry barred his way the thought that was uppermost in his mind finding utterance jim horton stopped stepped back a pace and then peered at the man in civilian clothing from beneath his broad army hat brim. Harry, he muttered almost inaudibly. What are you doing here in this house? Raged Harry in a voice thick with passion. And then as no reply came, Answer me, answer me! One of Harry's fists threatened,

but his brother caught him by the wrist and with ridiculous ease twisted his arm aside. He was surprised as Harry sank back weakly against the wall with a snarl of pain. Dang you! He groaned. This wouldn't do. Any commotion would surely arouse the curiosity of Madame Tupin, the concierge.

Keep a civil tongue in your head, Harry, he muttered, and I'll talk to you. He caught him firmly by the arm, but Harry still leaned against the wall, muttering vaguely. A civil tongue, me. You dare ask me? Yes, said Jim gently. I've been trying to find. you where leered harry in my wife's studio jim horton turned suddenly furious but shunked into silence and inertia by the terrible significance of the suspicion but he pulled himself together with an effort come he said quietly let's get away from here he felt harry yielded to the pressure of his fingers and slowly they moved into the shadows down the street away from the gas lamps a moment later harry was twitching at his arm.

Get me something to eat. I'm hungry, he gasped. Hungry. How long? Since yesterday morning. A crust of bread. And Jim had been eating goose. The new sense of his own guilt appalled him.

Since yesterday, he muttered in a quick gush of compassion. We'll find something. A cafe. There's a place in the Rueberthes, Javetz. He said. weakly. Jim Horton caught his brother under an elbow and helped him down the street, aware for the first time of the cause of his weakness. He marked to the haggard lines in Harry's face and the two weeks' growth of beard that effectually concealed all evidence of respectability.

There seemed little danger of anyone's discovering the likeness between the neatly garbed lieutenant and the civilian who accompanied him. But it was well to be careful. They passed a brilliantly lighted restaurant, but in a nearby street after a while they came to a small cafe, not too brightly lighted, and they entered. There was a polished zinc bar

which ran the length of a room with low smoke-stained ceilings. At the bar were two cochers in shirt-sleeves. their yellow glazed hats on the backs of their heads sipping grenadine there was a winding stair which led to the living quarters above but through a doorway beside it there was a glimpse of an inner room with tables unoccupied they entered and jim horton ordered a substantial meal which was presently set before the hungry man the coffee revived him and he ate greedily in moody side silence while jim horton set frowning at the opposite wall for the present each was deeply engrossed jim in the definite problem that had suddenly presented itself and the possible courses of action open to do what was to be required of him harry in his food beyond which life at present held no other interest but after a while which seemed interminable to jim his brother gave a gasp of satisfaction and pushed back his dishes give me a cigarette he demanded with something of an air jim obeyed and even furnished a light not missing the evidences of dutch courage harry had acquired from the stimulation of food and coffee

it was curious what little difference the amenities seemed to matter they were purely mechanical nor would it matter what harry was to say to him the main thing was to try to think clearly obliterating his own animus against his brother and the contempt in which he held him harry sank back into his chair for a moment inhaling luxuriously well he said at last maybe you've got a word to say about how the devil you got here yes said jim quickly it's very simple i was hit i took your identity in the hospital there wasn't anything else to do harry glowered at the ash of his cigarette and then shrugged heavily. I see. They think you're me. That was nice of you, Jim, he sneered. Very decent indeed, very kind and brotherly. You'd better can the irony, Jim broke in briefly. They'd have found us out, both of us, and I reckon you know what that would have meant. Hmm, maybe I do, maybe I don't, he said shrewdly. It was you found me sick. Nobody else. else did. We needn't speak of that. We might as well. I'd have come around. All right, if you hadn't

butted in. Oh, would you? Yes, said Harry sullenly. Jim Horton carefully lighted a cigarette from the butt of the other, and then said coolly, we're not getting anywhere, Harry. I think we are. I'm trying to show you that you're in wrong on this thing from start to finish, and it looks as though you might get just what was coming to you meaning what that you'll take my place again this exhibiting with a grin his worn garments you took mine without a buy your leave now you'll give it back to me an ugly look came into jim horton's jaw i'm not so sure about that he said and a tone dangerously quiet what you mean that the bluster trailed off into silence at the warning fire in his brother's eyes But he raised his head in a moment, laughing disagreeably. I see. The promotion has got into your head. Some promotion, lieutenant, ride off the reel from corporal, too. Living soft in the hospital, and now, he paused and swallowed uneasily.

How did you get to the Rue de Tavens? They came to the hospital, Mr. Quinlavin, and your wife. I-I've fooled them. They don't suspect. how how did you know moira was my wife some letters i read them oh i see you read them he frowned and then berry quinlevin's two yes his too i had to have facts i got them some i wasn't looking for about about the duke de votrin jem broke in dryly that's one of the reasons why i'm still harry horton and why i'm going to stay harry horton for the present. If Jim had needed any assurance as to his brother's share in this intrigue, he had it now. For Harry went red and then pale, refusing to meet his gaze. I see, he muttered.

Quinlavin's been talking. Yes, said Jim craftily. He has. It's a pretty plan, but it won't come off. You always were a rotter, Harry. But you're not going to hurt Moira. if i can prevent it was a half-random shot but it hit the mark moira muttered harry somberly i see you haven't been wasting any time i'm not wasting time when i can keep her or even you from getting mixed up in dirty blackmail that's my answer and that's why i'm not going to quit until i'm ready harry horton frowned at the soiled table cover his fingers twitching at his fork and then reached for the coffee pot and quickly poured himself another cup clever jim he said with a cynical laugh i take off my hat to you i never would have thought you had it in you but you'll admit that living in my wife's apartment and impersonating her husband is going a bit too far the laughter didn't serve to conceal either his fear or his fury but it stopped short as jim's fingers suddenly closed over his wrist and held it in a grip of iron don't bring her into this he whispered tensely do you hear and after a moment of struggle with himself as he withdrew his hand you dared to think yourself worthy of her you be careful what you say to me said harry trying bravado she's my wife she won't be your wife long when i tell her what i know about you finished jim angrily he saw harry's face go pale again as he tried to meet his gaze saw the fire flicker out of him as he groped pitiably for jim's hand jim you wouldn't do that he muttered jim released his hand shrugged and leaned back in his chair not if you play straight with me and with her you want me to pay the penalty of what i did for you to go out into the world an outcast in your place

perhaps i owe it to you i don't know but you owe me something too promotion the qua de guerre the quad de garre me lieutenant harry g horton to be gazetted captain me put in jim with some pride not you a brief silence in which harry rubbed his scrawny beard with his long fingers that might be difficult to prove to my company captain he said at last you forget my wounds laughed jem oh they're my wounds all right and then with a shrug you see harry it won't work you're helpless if i chose to keep on the job you'd be left out in the cold you wouldn't dare i don't know what i'd dare it depends on you what you mean broke in harry with some spirit i couldn't be any worse off than i am now even if i told the truth jim laughed ah he tried to tell the hospital and they thought i was bug house try it if you like harry frowned and reached for another cigarette and then after a while well what do you want me to do his brother examined him steadily for a moment and then went on i don't know whether you've learned anything in the army or not but it ought to have taught you that you've got to live straight with your buddy or you can't get on straight sneered harry like you you call this straight what you're doing no jim admitted it's not straight it's crooked as hell but if it wasn't you'd have been drummed out of the service by now i don't want you to think i care about you I didn't, out there.

It was only the honor of the service I was thinking about. I'd do it again if I had to, but I do care about this girl you've bamboozled into marrying you, you and Quinlavin, and whatever the dirty arrangement between you that made it possible, I want to make it clear to you here and now that she isn't going to be mixed up in any of your rotten deals. She isn't your sort, and you couldn't drag her down to your level if you tried. I'll know more when Quinlavin gets back, and then, Jim Horton paused as he realized that he had said too much, for he saw his brother start and then stare at him.

Ah, very Quinlavin is away. Jim nodded, yes, he said, in Ireland. Harry had risen, glowering. And you think I'm going to slink off tonight to my kennel and let you go back to the studio? you in my uniform as me to Moira." Jim Horton thought deeply for a moment, and then rose and coolly straightened his military blouse. Very well, he said, we'll go back to her together.

He took out some money and carelessly walked toward the bar in the front room, but Harry followed quickly and caught him by the arm. Jim, he muttered, you wouldn't do that. We'll tell her the truth. I guess you're right. she ought to know wait a minute his hand was trembling on the officer's sleeve and the dark beard seemed to make the face look ghastly under its tan not yet jim not to-night we will have to let things be for a while just sit down again for a minute we've got to find a way to straighten this thing out to get you back into your old job how dryly i-i don't know just now but we can work it somehow it's too late you could have been captured by the bosh we can find a way when you let me have my uniform jim horton grinned unsympathetically there are two wounds in that too harry he said where are yours and he moved toward the door listen jim will let things be as they are for the present berry quinlivan mustn't know you've got to play the part i see come in sit

down a minute. His brother obeyed mechanically. Well, he said, I'll do what you say, until, until we can think of something, he tried to smile and failed. I know it's a good deal to ask you, to take my place, to go out into the world and be what I am, but you won't have to do it. You won't have to. We'll manage something, some way. You go back to the studio. He paused on the certainly. You're not, he paused. Jim Horton read his meaning, making love to your wife. And if I was, it would only be what you deserve. She doesn't love you any too much as it is. Harry frowned at the floor and was silent, but his brother's answer satisfied him. All right, you go back, but I've got to get some money. I can't starve. I don't want you to.

Jim fumbled in his pockets and brought out some bills. Here, take these. They're yours anyway. We'll arrange for more later. I've an account at a bank here. And so have I. But I don't dare. Very good?

What's your bank? Harches and C. All right. I'll get some checks tomorrow, and you can make one payable to yourself. I'll cash it and give you the money. And I'll make one out at my bank for the same amount, dated back into October, before the Boisier fight, payable to bearer.

You can get it cashed? Yes, who? A woman I know. Jim shrugged. All right, but be careful. I'll meet you here tomorrow night, and don't shave. Harry nodded and put the bills into his pocket while Jim rose again. You play the game straight with me, he said, and I'll put this thing right, even if...

he paused suddenly in the doorway his sentence unfinished for just in front of him stood a very handsome girl who had abandoned her companion and stood both hands outstretched in greeting arry or don she was saying joyously in broken english you don't seem to know me it is i biquette the name quimlevin had spoke in the hospital jim glanced over his shoulder into the shadow where harry had been but his brother had disappeared end of chapter four chapter five of the splendid outcast by george gibbs this libervox recording is in the public domain recording by tony oliva biquette she wore a black velvet toque which bore upon its front two large crimson wings poised for flight and they seemed to typify the girl herself alert on tiptoe tiptoe, a bird of passage. She had a nose very slightly retruce, black eyes rather small, but expressive, with brows and lids skillfully tented. Her figure was graceful, sveled, and extraordinarily well-groomed, from her white gloves to the tips of her slender shiny boots and seemed out of place in the shadows of these murky surroundings. For the rest,

she was mischievous tingling with vitality and joyous at this unexpected meeting horton glanced past her and saw a figure in a slouch hat go out of the door then from the darkness turn and beckon but jim horton was given no opportunity to escape and harry's warning gesture if anything served to increase his curiosity as to this lovely apparition m valcourt monsieur horton she said indicating her companion with a wave of the hand and then as he shook hands with her companion a handsome man with a well-trimmed grayed moustache m valcourt is one day the greatest sculptor in the world monsieur orton is the hero of boissiere wood you know the fight in boissiere put in jim and who does not it is all in le matins to-day and here i find you trying to hide yourself in the obscure caf of m jave she stopped suddenly and before he realized what she was about had thrown her arms over his shoulders and kissed him squarely upon the lips he felt a good deal of a fool with m valcourt and the villainous looking jave grinning at them but the experience was not unpleasant and he returned her greeting whole-heartedly wondering what was to come next and when laughing gaily she released him he turned toward m valcourt who was regarding her with a dubious smile for all her prosperity m orton valcourt was saying in french she is still a gamine and who would wonder mon vieu to live expensively is very comfortable but even comfort is

tedious. Does not one wish to laugh with a full throat, to kick one's toes, or to put one's heels upon a table? La, la, I do not intend to grow too respectable, I assure you. Jim Horton laughed. She had spoken partly in English, partly in French, translating for both, and then, Let me assure you, madame, said Valcourt, with a stately bow, that you are not in the slightest danger of that but she was already turning to horton again a hero the world is full of heroes today but not one like my harry horton i must have a talk with you alone lucian she said sharply turning to valcour i will come to the studio to-morrow monsieur le ducke thinks i am gone away but now i would be a poor creature not to my brave soldier welcome if monsieur will excuse me said Valcourt offering his hand Jim Horton took it wondering where the adventure was to lead she was a very remarkable person

and her eland had already carried him off his feet taking his hand in hers with a charming simplicity she led him into the room at the rear now occupied by a number of of persons of both sexes and bade m jave himself serve them and when they were seated at a table her hand still in his she examined him with a new interest it is indeed you she said gaily and yet you seem different more calm more silent what is it i've had two months in the hospital and you're quite strong again oh yes and you're quite strong again oh yes and you're you have been well piquette well but so anuilly it is why i come back here to the cartier to get a breath of fresh air i've been posing for m valcourt la libertay he says my figure is better than ever and valcourt knows i'm sure you are very lovely la la mon vieu but you are the grand serieux of course i am lovely it is my business but you do not show me how lovely i am for you are so quiet so cool jem horton laughed and caught her fingers to his lips you are bickette that is enough same mere but you are changet one does not look death in the eyes without feeling its cold touch oh but i am glad you will come back to me you shall be

earlong i don't know when i shall get my orders but until then things sol be as they were with us too eh my little one and i shall help you now in the great affair but m de vaughtran becomes more unpleasant he is a very tarsome old man jim horton started unconsciously then remembered that it was in connection with de vautrin that that Quinlivan had mentioned this very girl, Picquette. He understood better now the reason for Harry's gesture from the outer darkness. The meeting had been a stroke of fate. Perhaps she held the key to the riddle. Tiresome, yes, he said slowly.

All old men are tiresome. And difficult, she mused, sipping at her glass. While I am pretty, he likes to have me nearby. but i know he cares nothing he will leave me nothing i am not content so i say i want to help in the great affair you have planned something in the hospital you and m queen levin nothing definite m leucke still pays horton meditated for a moment no he said he has stopped paying piquette morin leaned further over the table frowning ah since when for three months or more then you'll think he suspects something i don't know it looks so doesn't it yes perhaps she paused a moment and then i make him talk about the past as you ask me too i am no saint and the bon dieu has taught me to look out for myself i shall continue if he tries to get rid of me the way way he did with his wife he will find me troublesome horton laughed i don't doubt it and then carefully you heard how he got rid of her he questioned it was a wretches of course he spent her

in a few months gambling at monte carlo and then when he came to her for more he abused and beat her she paused and her dark eyes snapped viciously he would not have beaten me she finished and then he asked wondering whither the conversation was leading and then as you know she ran away to ireland to ireland he muttered eagerly of course she said with a glance at him and when he got enough money sail round the world enjoying himself even now sometimes he's a beast it is then i come back to the cartier where i am born and bred to be merry again she sighed and then laughed gaily but to-night we must not talk of this tiresome matter it is your night mon vieu and we shall make it happy he kissed the rosy palm she thrust to his lips with difficulty concealing his curiosity but the child of m le duke he urged after a moment moment of badinage he said nothing he paused as though in doubt she shrugged carelessly and lighted a cigarette monsieur is cautious he spoke nothing of the child except to say that it died with the mother the money came to him that was all he cared about mon to Jim Horton no light seemed to dawn and how to question without arousing the girl's suspicions was more than he could plan but he remembered Quinlivan's uncertainty in the hospital his thought that Harry might have talked to this girl so he took a chance you asked the duke no questions that might have aroused his suspicions no I think not and yet I remember once he asked

me if i know monsieur quinlevin and what did you reply of course that i never heard of him he frowned at the cigarette in his fingers as harry would have frowned and imitated as nearly as possible the sullen mood of his brother the money has stopped coming to quinlevin we've got to do something perfectly said picket carelessly the time has come to produce the girl moira and the papers her glance was not upon his face or she would have seen the look of bewilderment and surprise suddenly distint his eyes but she heard him gasp and turned again toward him but by this time the missing pieces of the puzzle were at his fingers ends and he gathered them quickly it was moira who all these years had unconsciously impersonated the dead child who would have inherited and quinlevin had bled the duke for years with promises of silence harry had connived at the plot and now the coup they planned meant a sum of not less than seven figures and piquette knew all blackmail it was of the blackest for a moment he did not dare to speak for fear of betraying himself and then only ascended safely to her suggestion yes it is the only thing that is the only thing that is the only thing that is the only thing that he was the only thing thing to be done it must be managed carefully you are sealed the papers are all correct it is as to that monsieur quinlevin has gone to ireland ah i see we must wait until he comes back but i shall help you mon ami you will rely upon me nispa yes i will his mind was so full of this astonishing revelation that he set silent and motionless

while she changed the subject and chattered on the charm of the chance encounter was gone gamine she might be and irresponsible like others of her kind in paris or elsewhere but she was not for him he had a standard to measure her by you are so treist arry she broke in suddenly i do not think i like you so treased what shall we care you and i for m le duke and his money to be young and in love she caught both of his hands across the table and told them you are not yet away harry i can see it is that for so long you do not know comfort and happiness alon i shall make you laugh again until the trest look come no more into your eyes he was about to give some token of his appreciation that would satisfy her when he saw her glance past his shoulder toward the door which led into the bar your friend who was with you he has come back again she whispered ah he turned and saw harry peering through the door he wants you to come sit empettant send him away i'm afraid i he rose uncertainly and turned wait wait wait he said i'll see and then walked out into the bar where harry obstinately awaited him i've had enough of this growled his brother you come out of here with me or i'll don't be a fool you could see that i couldn't help it you can help it now all right we'll have this thing out you and i to-night you meet me at the corner toward the boulevard in twenty minutes i'll get rid of her and without waiting for you'll wait for her and without waiting for her

for a reply he returned to piquette his mind made up i'm sorry he said to her but i've some urgent business with this man it can't be put off but i must see you soon she pouted and rose i can't explain not now you won't be cross it is not another woman she asked shrewdly another how can you ask no there are no other women in paris piquet you are cruel she is muttered in a low tone her dark eyes flashing no it is a matter of importance will you let me have your address number eighty two boulevard clichy the same place good tomorrow i will write you without a word she gathered up her cloak and led the way out looking about curiously for her enemy of the evening but harry had disappeared she said nothing and they went out into the street where where jim horton found a cab and put her into it michaud she whispered softly it is not my fault bickett soon he gave the address to the cochet and she was gone jim horton stood for a moment listening to the sounds of the retreating fiacre as it rattled away over the cobblestones and then turn slowly back his anger at his discoveries long repressed by the necessities of his masquerade suddenly bursting the barriers of his self-control moira innocent the cat's paw the stool-pigeon for these two rascals how much did she know how could quinlevin have carried the deception out all these years without de vaughtron suspecting something and if as it seemed he was suspicious of them now who had told his own duty seemed very clear

every impulse of honor and decency urged that he find this duke de votran and tell the whole truth but there was moira his first duty was to her but telling her meant revealing the secret of Harry's disgrace and his own part in it that would be a difficult thing to do but he would have to do it he would tell her to-morrow as for harry he would make short work of him he went with long-determined strides to the appointed spot and harry met him with a threatening air what the hell has she been saying he muttered jim horton was angry but he kept himself well in hand aware of his own physical superiority to this blustering of intrigue, deceit, and cowardice, built in his own image, if earlier in the evening he had had his moments of pity for his brother's misfortunes, if he had planned to make restitution for the imprudence that had resulted in their undoing, he had no such gentle feeling or purpose now.

As he didn't reply, his brother continued angrily, You've gone about your limit, I tell you. What did she tell you? everything. I've got the whole story, and I'd like to tell you before we go any further that you're just about the crookedest. He broke off with a shrug. What's the use? The worst thing I could say would be a compliment, but you come to the end of your tether. I don't know why I hoped there might be a chance of getting you to go straight for her, but I did. The interesting revelations of this charming lady have removed the impression the money you took from the estate your questionable deals in america your habits put you outside the pail of decency but the blackmail of the duke with your own wife as stool-pigeon harry in a sudden blind fury that took no thought of consequences struck viciously but jim who had been watching for the blow worded it tripped his brother neatly and sent him spinning against

the wall where he fell and lay motionless, but he was unhurt, only bewildered by the result of his own incapacity. Get up, Jim ordered. Somebody will be coming along in a moment and we'll both be going with the police. Harry saw reason in that and slowly got to his feet, pale, still trembling with rage, rubbing his hip joint, but subdued. The place they had chosen was in the shadow, and the hour was late, and no one was about, but Jim Horton took a glance up and down the deserted street before he resumed his interrupted remarks. I don't want any man's uniform when it's been defiled. You ought to have known that. I'm going to take it off and give it back to you. He saw the eager surprised look that came into Harry's face and raised his hand in warning. But not yet.

first i'm going to tell your wife the truth and then i'm going to warn the duke de votrins harry started back as though to dodge another blow the reaction of his venture setting in with the terror of this information jim he whispered clutching at his arm you wouldn't do that jim my god it's roaring to me and you too i'm prepared for that don't for god sakes don't wait i'm met you half-way, haven't I? I'll do anything you say. I'll steer Quinlivan off and drop the thing. It was his idea, not mine, and he wouldn't have thought of it if the old man hadn't shut off the allowance. Tell me the truth, Jim broke in sternly. How much money did Quinloven owe you? $20,000. And that was Moira's price, contemptuously. I wanted her, I loved her, I swear to God I did, I love her now. I'd give anything to be able to go to her tonight. You. You forget what I know. It's the truth. How much were you to get of this money of the dukes?

Harry halted, mumbling. That wasn't settled. Well, it's settled now, said Jim with an air of finality, turning aside. What are you going to do? Tell her, in the morning. You can't, Jim. Why, she'd go right to Quinlavin. i expect her to and the duke harry leaned back against the wall his fingers working at his trouser legs but he was speechless that's about all i think said jim dryly good-bye then you won't listen not if i promise what anything why you've got me jim i can't do a thing with you ready to tell moira even if i wanted to what what's the thing with you ready to tell moira even if i wanted to what's the use it only means ruin for you wait a few days and we'll have another talk just wait until tomorrow night give me a chance to think i'll even i'll even get out of france and go out west somewhere and make a fresh start i will i mean it i did you a dirty trick once but i'll try to

square myself give me a chance think it over meet me tomorrow i'm all in tonight promise you won't speak no said Jim after a moment of deliberation I'll promise nothing but I'll meet you tomorrow night at Javets at twelve with the money Harry gasped a sigh of relief and straightened offering his hand thanks Jim tomorrow and you won't tell her I know you couldn't it would be too cruel she'll suffer my God you know her can't you see how she'd suffer. I didn't start this thing, but you'll finish it, Jim. She believes in him, even if she doesn't believe in me, it will kill her. He saw that he had made an impression on his brother. Jim stood silent, his head bowed. Don't tell her tomorrow, Jim, Harry pleaded.

Promise. Jim shrugged and turned. All right, he said at last. I'll sleep on it. He turned. He turned way and walked slowly out into the dim light of the street moving toward the rue de taverns he did not even turn his head to see what became of his brother already he had forgotten him the heat of his passion had suffered a strange reaction to resolve to tell moira the truth even to threaten to tell her was one thing but to tell was another and curiously enough harry's picture of the consequences drawn even in the stress of fear was true enough. Jim knew it was true. He knew her pride, her spirit, the revelation would kill them and destroy her. She was so dependent on him, she didn't know how greatly,

and he had been until the present moment so dependent upon her. He realized what her visits had meant to him how deep had been the joy of their evening alone in the studio he did not dare to think of her now as he had been thinking of her then for during the weeks of his convalescence and the culmination of their friendship to night harry had seemed far off vague and impalpable but their meeting had changed all this and he was thankful that he had had enough manhood to keep his wits when he had been a alone with her. Moira, the pity of it, had given him signs that he might read and run, that the mockery of the marriage was a mockery no longer, and it was her very confession of indifference and pity for Harry, as she had known him, that seemed to give Jim the right to care for and protect her. He did care for her. He was now willing to confess in a way far from fraternal. He had always been too busy to think about women, but Moira had crept into his life when he was ill and unnerved, needing the touch of a friendly hand, and their peculiar relationship had

given him no chance of escape, nor her. She had captured his imagination, and he had succeeded, where Harry had not in winning her affection. It was a dangerous situation, and yet it fascinated him, the knowledge that he must cause her suffering had weakened his resolve for a moment but as he walked into the rue de taverns he saw it for the fool's paradise that it was he would spend to-morrow with her just to-morrow that could do no harm and then she should know everything he found his way into the court and up the stairs the studio door was closed implacable as the destiny that barred him from her he went into his room closed the door and slowly undressed then lay on the bed staring for a long while at the reflection of the street lamp upon the ceiling moira happiness reputation and dishonor or outcast but honorable end of chapter five chapter six of the splendid outcast by george gibbs this librivox recording is in the public domain recording by tony oliva youth triumphant but weariness and anxiety had to pay tribute at last and he slept. It was brought daylight when he awoke to the sound of a loud hammering

upon the door and a high, clear, humorous voice calling his name. Lazy-bones, get up. Will you be lying in bed all day? Uh, all right. He opened his eyes with an effort and glanced at his wristwatch, eight o'clock. Coffee in the studio, Harry dear, in ten minutes. Oh, all right, the hammering stopped footsteps retreated and Jim Horton tumbled out rubbing his eyes and gazing at the golden lozenges of light upon the wall it was a most inspiriting revely resting as the shrill clarion of camp on a frosty morning but sweeter far joyous with promise of the new day it was only during the progress of his hasty toilet that the douche of cold water over his head and face, recalled to him with unpleasant suddenness and distinctness, the events of the night before, and he emerged from vigorous rubbing, exhilarated, but sober. There was a lot of thinking to be done and a difficult resolution to make, and with Moira at his elbow it wasn't going to be easy. But by the time he knocked at the door of the studio, the pleasure of the

immediate prospect made ready his good cheer for the morning greeting he heard her voice calling and entered a new fire blazed on the hearth and an odor of coffee filled the air she emerged from the door of the small kitchen a coffee pot and a heaping plateful of brioche in her hands good morning i've been waiting for you now or a more you've been developing amazing bad habits in the hospital why didn't you call me before sure and i believed you might be thinking i was anxious to see you and aren't you and do you think i'd be telling even if i was you might and i won't will you have your coffee with cream and sugar if you please it was real cream and real sugar some magic of madame tupins she explained and the bryosh were unsurpassed and so they sat and and ate moira shattering gaily of plans for the day while the ancient dowager upon the easel who had braved the folkers and the long-range cannon looked down upon them benignly and with a little touch of pity too as she knew how much of their courage was to be required of them horton ate silently putting in a word here and there content to listen to her plans to watch the deaf motions of her fingers and the changing expressions upon her face once or twice he caught her looking at him with a puzzled line at her brows but he let his glance pass and spoke of casual things

the location of the bank where he must get his money the excellence of the coffee the kindness of nurse newberry aware that these topics were not the ones most in his mind or in hers you're a bit subdued this morning harry dear she said at last whimsically maybe that goose was too much for you subdued he laughed you have all the air of a man with something on his conscience you used to wear that look in america and i let you be but somehow things seem different with us too would you be willing to tell me there isn't a thing except except your kindness i don't deserve that you know she looked at him seriously and then broke into laughter would it make you feel more comfortable if i laid you over the shoulders with a moustic i think it would he grinned sure and that is one of the few pleasant prerogatives of matrimony in ireland and elsewhere added horton but i do want to know if anything's troubling you are you still worried she took a brioche and smiled at it amiably because we're not appropriately chaperoned no not so much i see you're quite able to look out for yourself and you're doing it eyes some comfort from the fact she asked he looked at her their eyes met and they both burst into laughter myra you witch but you'd better not tempt me too far sure i'm not afraid of y allanath she said sedate again and very cool horror of any man and then mischievously but your doubts needn't to kept you from kissing me a good morning it's not too late now said horton abruptly rising and spilling

his coffee. He passed the small table toward her, but she held him off with a hand. No, the essence is gone. You'll please pick up your coffee cup and pass the butter. Thanks. It's very nice butter, isn't it? Excellent, he said gloomily. And now you're next. Is there no pleasing a man? If you'd only stop pleasing, you'd make it easier for me to see a way. She was all attention at once, listening. But he'd, he'd, he'd, he'd, he'd, he'd, he paused and set his coffee cup down with an air of finality. Stop pleasing. Sure, and you must not ask the impossible, she said,

her mouth full. But he wouldn't smile and only glowered into the fire. I want you to let me try to pay you what I owe you to earn your respect and affection. Well, I'm letting you, she smiled over her coffee cup. I've gotten you on you. under false pretenses under the spell of a temporary emotion a sense of duty he rambled saying partly what harry might say and partly what was in his own heart i want to win the right to you to show you that-that i'm not as rotten as you used to think me he didn't know how far the thought was leading and in fear of it rose and walked away suddenly silent

well he heard her saying i don't think you are was she laughing at him he turned toward her again but the back of her dark head was very demure he approached quite close near enough to touch her but she held the coffee-cup to her lips and then when she had drunk sprang up and away what's the use of thinking about the past or the future alonov when we have the present with a gorgeous morning and happy paris just at our elbows alone you shall wash the coffee-cuffs and the pipe while i put on my hat for there's nothing like sticking something into a man's hands to keep them out of mischief and then we'll be wandering forth you and i into the realms of delight he was glad at the thought of going out into the air away from the studio for here within four walls she was too close to him there's a collusion too intimate if he only were hairy he would have taken her tantalizing moods as a husband might and conquered her by strength and tenderness but as it was all he could feel beside tenderness was pity for her innocence and helplessness and contempt and not a little pity for himself but the air of out-of-doors was to restore him to sanity it was one of the those late november days of sunshine warm and tazy when outer wraps are superfluous and arm in arm like two good comrades and as the custom was in the cartier they sauntered forth in the direction she indicated there were to be no vehicles for them she insisted for fiacras cost much and money was scarce life seemed to be coursing very strong through her veins and the more he felt the contagion of her youth and joy the more trying became the task he had set himself but sober though he was within he could not resist the spell of her enthusiasms and he put the evil hour from him

this day at least should be hers as nearly as he could make it without a flaw they turned down the bulmish and into the boulevards st germain past the bozartes which he wished to show him then over the pont des arts to the right bank they stopped on the quay for a moment to gaze down toward the towers of notre dame while moira painted for him the glories that were france he had lived a busy life and had had little time for romances of great nations but he remembered what he had read and through moira clear intelligence the epic filtered tinctured with its color and idealism illustration through moira's clear intelligence the epic filtered then under the arches of the louvre to the avenue de lopera toward the banking district all paris smiled the blue and brown mingled fraternally and the streets were crowded except for the uniform which were seen everywhere, it was difficult to believe that hardly a month ago the most terrible war in history had been fought almost at the city's gates. When he reached his bank, which was in the Boulevard des Italians, near the opera, Jim Horton had to move with caution, but Moira fortunately had some

shopping to do, and in her absence he contrived to get some checks, and going into the grand hotel, drew a check signed with his own name and payable to Henry G. Horton, and this he presented for payment. There was some delay and a few questions, for the amount was large, three thousand francs, but he showed the letters from Moira and Quinlavin. It was with a sigh of relief that he he went out and met moira near the opera with a grin he caught her by the arm exhibiting a large packet of bank-notes and led the way down the avenue by which they had come and where now harry dear i'm hungry to the most expensive restaurant in paris for dejernay if i'm not mistaken we passed it just here but you must not i won't permit he only grinned and let her in side for today at least moira we shall live but to see paris an angli that is not to live we shall see the tempting meal that he ordered with her assistance did much to mollify her prudence and frugality and they breakfasted in state on the best that the market provided afternoon found them back in the boulevard st germain again after an eventful interim which jim horton had filled above her protests in a drive through the bois and a visit much less expensive to a cinema show during which she held his hand

and now a little weary of all the world but happy in each other they drifted like the flotsam of all lovers of the rive gosch toward the gardens of the luxembourg they set side by side on the balustrade overlooking the esplanade and lawn in front of the palace watching the passers-by always paired pew-poo and milliner workmen and bun flane and grisette for the warm weather had brought them out there was no military band playing but they needed no music in their hearts which were already beating in time to the most exquisite of interludes twilight was falling the paris dusk full of mystery and elusive charm lights beyond the trees flickered into being and the roar the city beyond their breathing spot diminished into a low murmur for a while their conversation had relapsed into short sentences and monosyllables as though the gaiety of their talk was no longer sufficient to conceal their thoughts which throwing off subterfuge spoke in the silences at last moira shivered slightly and rose come she said gently we must be going and led the way toward the exit from the gardens on the boulevard st michel horton followed silently heavily for the end of his perfect day was drawing near and with it the duty which was to bring disillusionment and distress to moira and ostracism and hell to him but when they reached the studio moira set with a clarity at putting things to rights and preparing the evening meal

we shall be having cold goose and a bit of salad you extravagant person she said i feel as though i had no right to be eating again for a week and so they dined upon the remains of their feast but warmed by the cheerful blaze both conscious of the imminent hour of seclusion and affinity moira had little to say and in the silences jim caught her gaze upon him once or two twice as though in inquiry or in comprehension and wondered whether in their long day together he had said or done anything which might have led her to suspect the truth but he had been cautious following her leads in conversation and playing his discreditable role with rather creditable skill the end was near he would see harry to-night at javitz and to-morrow he would tell her but it was like the thought of death to him after to-day and he failed to hide from her the traces of his misery i wish that you would tell me what worries you she said gently after a long silence he started forward in his chair by the fire nothing he stammered there's nothing yes there is she said evenly i know i felt it all day even even even when you seem most happy and then quickly isn't me that you're worrying about about you he asked to gain time and then grasping at the straw she threw him about you yes moira he said quietly it was the first definite return to the topic of the morning which they had both banished as though by an understanding but moira was persistent why she asked because because

I don't deserve all this from you she smiled softly from her chair nearby don't she think I'm the best judge of that no he said miserably no you can't deny a woman the faith of her intuitions and if I proved your intuitions false sure and I'd never speak to you again she put in quaintly it might be better if you didn't he muttered, half aloud. She heard him, or seemed to, for she turned quickly and laid her hand over his. Don't be spoiling our day, dear, she said earnestly, God has been good and bringing you back to me. Whatever happens, I won't be regretting it. His fingers caught and pressed hers, and then quickly relinquished them as he rose, struggling for his composure.

You will regret it, he said fiercely. I tell you. you can't thank God for me because I'm not what you want to think me I'm what the hairy you knew in America was only worse a liar a cheat he paused as she rose saving himself the revelation on the tip of his tongue by the sight of her face in the firelight as she turned it was transfigured by her new faith in him and in her joy in the possession she came to him quickly and put her soft fingers of over his lips while the other arm went around his shoulders hush alonov she said no you mustn't moira he muttered taking her hands down and clasping them both in his you mustn't and then at the look of disappointment that came into her eyes caught both her hands to his lips and covered them with kisses

against the sweet allure of her he struggled sure that never mortal man had been so tried before but sureer still that the love he bore for her was greater than all temptation she looked at him flushed at the warmth of this formal caress which left no doubt of him but marvelling at his renunciation of her lips which had been so near i can't be listening till you call yourself such names you don't understand and i can't tell you anything more just now i haven't the will he noted the look of alarm which was a token of the suffering he must cause her and he led her to his chair and made her sit i can't make you unhappy not to-night i i'm sorry you read my thoughts i shouldn't have let you see he had turned to the fire and leaned against the chimney-piece and after a moment clear and very tender he heard her voice you must tell me everything milanav i've got the right to it now he shook his head in silent misery but you must no i can't yes you see things are different between us too you've made me know to-day how different

last night i called to your mind the mockery we'd been through calling it marriage but it was a marriage and the dear god has willed that my heart should beat for you as gently as that of any mother for its babe it's softened it softened that of any mother for its babe it's soft in the hospital dear when i saw you lie in there so pale and weak against the pillows and i knew that if god spared you for me i would make amends you make amends he gasped by giving you all that i had a faith hope and charity whatever you were whatever you are dear you're mine for better or for worse and i believe in you and your troubles whatever they are i'll take my half of them you can't he groaned not if they concern me she continued simply for their mine already he took a pace or two away from her you mustn't speak to me like this and why not your mind to speak to as i please is it that you don't love me enough elanath he knew that she wouldn't have asked that question if she hadn't already seen the answer in his eyes love you he began his eyes shining like stars and then suddenly as though their very glow had burned them out they turned away dull and lustreless she watched him anxiously for a moment and then rose and faced him well she said softly i'm waiting for your answer i-i can't give you an answer he said in a colorless voice then i'll be given the answer for you my dear for i'm not without eyes in my head i know you love me and i've been knowing it for many days and it's the kind of love that a woman wants the love that gives and asks nothing she paused breathing with difficulty the warm color rising to her temples and then went on gently proudly as though in joy of her confession

and i it is the same with me i've tried to make you understand it is not for you to give only she halted in her speech a moment and then came close to him her clear gaze seeking his i love you not for what you have suffered dear she whispered but for what you are to me not because you are my husband but because you are you the only one in all the world for me moira he whispered tensely as his arms went about her god forgive me i worship you god will forgive you that alonov he heard her say happily since i do he touched his lips to her brow tenderly then her lips you love me he muttered me you're sure that it's me that you love her eyes open startled at his tone if it isn't you that i love then i'm sure that i can't be loving anyone at all and you'll believe in me whatever happens i will she repeated proudly whatever happens since this has happened to us both some day you'll know he muttered painfully that i i'm not what i seem to be and then i want you to remember this hour this moment moira as it is to me i want you to remember how you came into my arms when i hadn't the strength to repel you remember the touch of my lips in tenderness and in reverence moira that love was too strong for me for it has made me false to my sense false to you she drew away from him a little deeply perturbed you'll frighten me alonov i-i don't want to to-morrow he paused searching for strength to speak but it did not come to-morrow what do you mean

the repetition of the words seemed like a confirmation of his resolution and shocked him into action quietly he took her hands down from his shoulders kissed them in farewell and turned away what do you mean she repeated that that tomorrow you shall judge me the tense expression of her anxiety relaxed and she smiled you needn't fear what that will be he did not reply but stood staring fixedly into the flyer she came around to him and laid her fingers over his why should we bother her about to-morrow dear to-day was yesterday's to-morrow and see what's happened to us but it shouldn't have happened he groaned it shouldn't have happened then why should i thank god for it don't yes everything will be right a woman knows of these things he smiled at her tenderly but he didn't attempt to take her in his arms come she said let us see it down by the fire near the blaze and we will not speak of tomorrow just of to-day and yesterday and the day before when you and i were learning this wonderful thing but he did not dare moira i've got to go out for a while a matter of duty now she faltered i must an engagement i'm an honor bound now really alarmed she caught him by the elbows and looked into his eyes an engagement tonight and tomorrow his meaning seemed to come to her with a rush

Harry this engagement tonight has something to do with us with me tomorrow what is it Harry speak I can't I promised I won't let you go Harry it is something that has come between us it has always been between us he muttered she clung to him and held him as he moved toward the door nothing nothing shall come between us nothing can i don't care what it is until death does part don't you understand what that means harry the repetition of his brother's name the phrase from the marriage service gave him resolution to avert his face from the piteous pleading in her eyes it is because i understand what it means that i have the courage to go now before you despise me i have said that nothing makes any difference i swear it i love you dear there's some mistake you'll never be different in my eyes whatever happens whatever has happened good-bye moira he whispered his hands clasping her arms no no not now not to-night i knew that to-day was too beautiful to last you-you frightened me don't go please don't go yes he said firmly i must but she was strong and she was strong and

greater than her strength was her tenderness. Look me in the eyes, dear, while I'm pleading with you, if your love were as great a thing as mine, to look in her eyes he knew was fatal. One brief struggle, and then he caught her in his arms and held her close for a long moment while he whispered in broken sentences. My love, if you hadn't said that, you've got to know what my love means, sacrifice. This moment is mine. remember it dear as it is its terrible sweetness its sanctity remember that too because that's the essence of it sanctity god bless you moira whatever happens

whatever happens as in a daze he straightened and looked around then almost roughly broke away from her and rushed to the door taking up his cap and overcoat on the way harry good-bye he called hoarsely as he opened the door and went out. She rushed after him, but he was already running furiously down the stairs into the dark. Harry, she called, Harry, come back. But the name of his brother made him rush on the more blindly, the echoes following him down into the court and past the open gate of Madame Tupin. He hadn't any definite idea of what he was going to do. The only thing that he was sure of was that he must get away anywhere away from moira from the reproach of her innocent eyes of her confessions of her tributes of submission and surrender on he plunged blindly down the street toward the luxembourg gardens into the outer darkness where he must lose himself away from her to-night to-morrow for all time he had failed he had trusted himself too far trusted her too far fool that he was not to have seen that love begun by trivial happenings had been gathering strength and momentum and like an avalanche had swept down and engulfed them both in a moment of reaction of guilty triumph he rejoiced

defiant of the conscience that drove him forth that it was him that she loved not harry his lips that had taken tribute his ears that had received her confessions meant for them alone but reason returned after a while and with it the sense of his dishonour the thing was over definitely there would be scorn enough in her eyes for him to-morrow when he told her all the truth he comforted himself with that thought and yet it brought him a pang too for he knew that it was moira who was to suffer most he seemed to be the only person in the gardens for the night was chill and a thin mist of rain was falling from time to time there were footsteps here and there and the murmur of voices and through the turmoil of his thoughts he was conscious of them vaguely but they meant nothing to him he went on into the darkness his head bowed in the conflict of his happiness and his remorse reaching a dimly lighted spot near the rue da sas when he heard quick footsteps behind him he turned just in time to dodge the blow of a stick aimed at his head which fell heavily on his shoulder he struck out but another man caught him around the waist burying him to the ground he struggled to one knee striking viciously but they were too many for him he got a glimpse of an automatic pistol which flashed before his eyes and then something heavy struck him on the head the last thing he noted before losing consciousness was the pale face of the man with the automatic it was his brother harry end of chapter six chapter six chapter six

seven of the splendid outcast by george gibbs this libravox recording is in the public domain recording by tony oliva awakening moira moved about in a daze attempting in the commonplaces of the daily routine to forget the thought of the revelation which she knew could not be long delayed she had lain all night on the divan in the studio listening and waiting for the return of the soldier and at last toward daylight from sheer exhaustion of mind and body had fallen asleep when she awoke her first impulse was to go to the room in the hallway and knock she opened the door the bed had not been occupied slowly thoughtfully she went back to the studio and the business of preparing the coffee for herself and for harry when he should arrive her mind was filled with strange doubts not of him because she had learned to have a complete a perfect faith in this soldier that she had married who had left new york under a cloud of uncertainties and suspicions and had come back to her spiritually reborn the doubts in her mind were those that he had purposely created in it and fragments of phrases that he had uttered in their moments of phrases that he had uttered in their moment of tenderness came back to alarm and disturb her because if he hadn't thought it necessary to alarm and disturb her he would have remained silent and permitted himself to enjoy with her the hours that had been theirs together yes there was something that had come to thrust itself between them some impediment to their union she smiled softly at the memory of the restraint in his caresses the purity of his smile and the gentleness of his abnegation he had underestimated the quality of her new faith in him was this shadow out of the past perhaps but it wouldn't matter together they would exercise it only the future mattered now their future together she stopped for a moment in her work of putting the studio to rights and listened she thought that she heard a step upon the stair she waited a while and then went to the door and peered out no one it was a little cruel that he had not sent her a message a note a petit bleu even telling when she must expect him whatever his appearance might bring for this she realized was the to-morrow of which he had spoken yesterday the day of revelation

she tried to sing at her work but the effort was a failure a morbid fear of the thing that was to happen if it hadn't already happened obsessed and held her nine ten o'clock eleven with a courage born of desperation she went into her room and put on her hat it was insupportable the suspense there was some things to buy she must order them and leaving word with madame tupin that she would return within the hour she walked briskly forth breasting the keen air and trying to smile but even her walk was a failure and in a short while she was back eagerly questioning madame tupin no monsieur le lieutenant had not arrived no doubt he was busy about the ceremony of the presentation of the medals moira inquired and madame tupin showed her an article in the paper about the honors to be given both French and American officers next week in the Place de la Concorde. There was his name, Henry G. Horton, Quad de Guerre. Madame Toupin let her have the paper, and she ran up to the studio where she read it eagerly, thrilling with pride. Of course, he had his reasons for not coming to her and telling her everything. She must be patient, her faith in him unwavering he would come to her to-night again and whatever he told her was to make no difference in her love and faith in him whatever he told her she swore it late that night he came

she had built a fire of faggots against the chill of the night and was sitting in the big arm-chair by the hearth when she heard a knock at the studio door with a cry of welcome she rose and rushed to greet him throwing him throwing herself impulsively into his arms. Harry, she gasped happily, at last. She couldn't help noting the slight movement of recoil before her tenderness, then bending his head. Hello, Moira, he muttered. She helped him off with his overcoat and led him over to the fire, making him sit in the big armchair.

He obeyed awkwardly as one in a daze, his brows frowning, The light was uncertain, but what she saw alarmed her. Harry, what has happened to you? She cried, catching him by the hands and holding them. You're ill. Your fingers are cold. You look as though what has happened? Nothing, he murmured with an attempt at a smile.

Nothing at all. But even the smile was different, as though the muscles acted in obedience to an effort. She had struck a match to make a light. What? What are you doing? he asked i'm going to see what's the matter with you you look sick you need medicine no he protested i'm just tired a drink of whisky if you've got one she went into barry quinlevin's room and brought forth a bottle a glass and a pitcher of water with a hand that trembled a little he poured himself a drink and took it at a draught and then gave a gasp of relief she had sat down near him and was regarding him with an expression of intentness and

and eagerness though the pucker at her brows indicated a doubt and a fear the gaslight was at his back and she could not clearly see his face but there was something strange about him that she had missed at his first entrance a brooding sullenness remote self-centered that even the smile could not temper with sweetness and even while she watched he poured out another glass of whiskey what is it harry she asked tell me it's nothing he said i'm all in i've had some worries i'll be all right have you had something to eat yes i'm not hungry his voice too thin weary sombre now greatly alarmed she caught his hand in both of hers you must tell me everything harry i don't care what it is i-i've got to know you told me that you'd tell me to-day you'd tell me to-day you'd tell me to-day you-you'd tell me to-day you-day and-you'd tell me to-day and-you'd you'd tell me to-day you-day and-you'd tell me-day you'd-day you'd to-night and now you must keep your promise i tried so hard not to worry and when you didn't come back to me last night i-i was really frightened were you he said with a frown i was all right i'm glad but it was cruel of you not to send me a message i couldn't but i'm here now moira so there's no need worrying any more he put his hand over hers and leaned toward her his words which were last night would have given her happiness seemed somehow to mean nothing to her tonight, for his very presence in this condition was a threat against her peace of mind,

and his fingers might have been wax for all that their touch meant to her. You're trying to make things seem better than they are, she said steadily, wondering at her own words. I'm not easily deceived. last night i knew that something had come between us i know now that it's still between us harry what error you say he turned away toward the glass at his elbow no he murmured that difficulty has been removed he couldn't repress the smile of triumph as he took his drink and she saw it it wasn't a pleasant smile come he went on more easily aren't you glad to see me ay god knows whether i am or not something has happened to you to me you've been through something terrible since yesterday something that has burnt the soul of you what is it what is it the touch of your fingers your voice they come from a distance like with nothing of you in them am i ill that i should be thinking of you so take me in your arms harry and shield me from this terror that you're not your

but someone else he obeyed putting his arms around her and holding her close to him but at the touch of his lips to hers she struggled free and faced him by the hearth pale as death the look of bewilderment at her brows had intensified into a steady gaze almost of terror at the thought that had suddenly mastered her and yet she did not dare give utterance to it it was so outlandish so mad and incomprehensible. She saw the frown of anger, quickly masked, in a smile of patience, as she broke away from him, and that confirmed her in her madness. She was reading him keenly now from top to toe, missing nothing, and the thought that dominated her was that the man with whom she had mated during the past weeks, the man who had passed through the shadow of death, death, reborn in body and spirit, the Harry that she had recently learned to love was dead, and that this man who had come to take his place, this man, was what he might have been if God's grace had not fallen on him. Madness? Perhaps, and yet how otherwise would the touch

of his lips, which last night she had sought in tenderness, have been so repellent to her. her harry her husband unregenerate the same harry that she kept her gaze fixed upon him and she saw his look flicker and fade if this reality was harry her husband then were all the weeks that had passed since she found him in the hospital merely a dream was yesterday a dream last night i-i don't know what is a matter she said at last passing a hand across her brows i-i am not well perhaps but you you're not the not the same i know it the thoughts that i have of you frighten me he forced a laugh and sank into his chair again lighting a cigarette with an assumption of ease i'm sorry he said quietly she only stood staring at him her deep blue eyes never wavering from his face which was still averted from the light he met that gaze once a second time and then looked away but still they stared at him wide like a child's but full of a dawning wisdom you-you are harry horton my my husband she whispered in a kind of a daze well rather she paused another long long moment as though on the verge of a difficult decision and then spoke searchingly.

If you are Harry, my husband, then who, who is the other? Harry Horton started, the other. The other, who was here with me yesterday, who was ill in the hospital at Neillie, wounded the hero of Wossier Wood? Moira, he said rising, this is serious. There has been no other here. yes she repeated doggedly the other has been here you're twin the word seemed born of her necessity you're twin she repeated he winced at the word and she saw the change in his expression tell me the truth of this thing she went on quickly he said yesterday that something was to come between us it was you and then as he made no reply for god's sake speak he turned to from the light. I'm your husband, he muttered hoarsely.

Show me your wounds, she gasped suddenly, reasoning with singular directness. He glanced at her once, then bent forward, there upon the left side of his head, in a shaved spot, was a cross of adhesive tape. She touched it aimlessly with her fingers, and then suddenly, before he could rise, with a quick-deaf movement, tore it away from his skull, and quickly as he straightened, she had to be able to be able to be able to his skull, and quickly as he straightened, she had seen enough. There was no wound. What is this devil-tree? He muttered, his face an angry red, but the look that he met in her eyes pierced all subterfuge. You have not been wounded, she gasped. He leaned forward in his fury as though to strike her, but she stood up to him

resolutely until the color faded from his face and he straightened slowly. Well, he muttered with a shrug. i haven't and then folding his arms he found her gaze what of it he asked shortly she glanced down at the slips of adhesive tape and then let them fall through her fingers i'm glad she said coolly that you've decided not to carry on the lie he laughed again well it looks as though it were hardly worth while already her thoughts were beyond him who who's the other she asked at last with a cold precision that might have come from a disembodied spirit he waited a moment before replying and then his tone matched her own i can hardly wonder at your interest after the warmth of your greeting when i came in the shot told and she colored painfully who who is he she repeated with an effort he smiled there's no harm in your knowing since you guessed the rest he's my twin brother jim horton jim she gasped below her breath we met in the confusion on the battlefield he went on i had been shell-shocked and he put on my uniform to lead my men shell-shock yes he took my uniform it was a fool proceeding when i came to everything was in confusion he would have been court-martialed and shot if i had turned up so i went back to the lines and came to paris while he won for you the quad de guerre and you're goin to step into his shoes there are my shoes it's not my fault and he what's to become of him that's his lookout he merely disappears from the scene

she leaned heavily against the mantelshelf breathing fast but she had no reply and so he went on unpleasantly now perhaps you would like to explain i have nothing to explain not the joy in your eyes when i came in the kisses you gave me that you thought were for him i asked no forgiveness she said in a hollow tone of course you thought he was your husband and he let you that you thought you was your husband and he let you that you think so yes he let me think so she repeated parrot-like and all the while her horror of her situation increased her anger at the other who had dared to place her in this false position she saw her husband's bony fingers clasped the chair-arm you were easily deceived he went on it's hardly flattering to me i would like to know he stopped suddenly his question in abeyance before the challenge in her eyes aroused by the tone of his voice she read his thought and answered him he came here from the hospital night before last he wanted to go to a pension but i wouldn't permit it that was kind of you but i'm not blind and your kisses for him were warm on your lips when you greeted me she paled and drooped in her shame what of you to say say about that he went on tensely do you think that i'm the kind to stand by idly and see a man take my wife's kisses no you are not she answered slowly you have already answered me and then with a painful effort what have you done with him he sank into the arm-chair with a laugh with him nothing he has gone that's all i don't believe you that's your privilege he has gone he thought he

had gone about far enough and i'm almost ready to believe that you agree with him no she stammered pleading against her own will against her outraged pride there was a reason for what he did an honorable reason there must have been the marks of it are not very clear to me if you can see anything honorable in trying to steal the love of one's brother's wife he paused for he saw the danger signals lying in her eyes and tried to shrug his anger off what's the use i'm no fool whether he tried to win you or not it's clear that neither of you was over-scrupulous about me she didn't reply at once and when she did speak her words came slowly and with dignity i don't know why it is that he should have kept silent about you he has done me a hurt irreparable when i visit him in the hospital. It was you that I visited, you that I went to cheer, to take my place by your side. I thanked God when I saw you that you had grown to be what you were, what I had wanted you to be, and I loved you for what you had suffered. He started up from this chair, Moira. Wait a moment, she insisted still struggling to give her thoughts expression. I want you to

understand i thought that it was you who had come back to me as i wished you to come back in honor and pride of your service to your country and instead of you i find another with your wounds your honors if it was your brother in spite of the false position he's placed me in i honor him for those wounds as i would have honored you and i honor him still more because he has thought enough of his honor and of mine to give up everything that he has won and gone out into the darkness alone at this harry horton's fury relaxed in a laugh he poured himself another drink you can spare him these new honors she glanced at him keenly but he was too angry to notice he went away because he had to he muttered what do you mean what i say it was getting too hot for him the meaning under his words came to her slowly She watched him for a moment curiously, leaning toward him, studying the ugly lines at lip and brow that he no longer took pains to conceal. And then she guessed the truth. What have you done with him? She whispered. Nothing. You lie. She knew no fear of him now and leaned forward clutching at his shoulder. You've dealt unfairly with him. You've... She halted in terror of her thoughts. He got what he. he deserved he muttered sullenly what have you done she repeated put him where he won't mess in my affairs again see here moira he caught her wrists and held her i'm just about fed up with this i've been patient about long enough you're my wife and i'm going to keep you do you think after all i've suffered i'm going to stand for this kind of treatment now let go my wrists you're hurting me no Instead, he drew her closer to him.

I don't care about this foolishness with Jim. I think you can see that you've made a fool of yourself and of me. But I'm willing to forget it. If you'll do the square thing, I'm back here and I'm back to stay. And I'm going to make you love me whether you want to or not. Let me go, Harry. Kiss me. No, she struggled in his arms, but he only held her the more closely.

Moira, I want you. You're mine. you belong to me by every law no no but he mastered her pressing her throat back and kissing her upon the lips she lay quiet in his arms weak from the struggle he took her immobility for acquiescence and caught her more tightly in his arms let me go she gasped do you hear a saner man would have caught the warning note but harry horton was beyond warnings she fought with renewed strength and then all else failing struck him full in the face with her clenched fist his arms relaxed in astonishment and she sprang away putting a small table between them breathing rapidly she saw him put his fingers to his cheek and then look at them in a bewildered way i see she heard him muttering to himself so that's the way of it the blow brought him to his senses and he stared at her for a moment as though at a person he had never seen before her eyes burned like a blue flame in the pallor of her face and the hand that clutched the table trembled violently and yet it

was not the fear of him that made her tremble but the fear of herself and of the sudden dreadful awakening at the edge of the chasm that yawned between them end of chapter seven chapter eight of the splendid outcast by george gibbs this librovoc's recording is in the public domain recording by tony oliva threats the silence seemed endless and yet she dared not trust herself to speak her throat closed and it seemed that the blood from her heart was drowning her and yet she watched him tensely aware of the crisis aware to of the revelations that seemed to have laid her heart bare to all the world. Her husband reached the large table and poured out what remained of the whiskey. Then she heard his laugh again and saw him leering at her over his glass. Lucky dog I am.

Pretty little devil to come home to. Love tap, he shrugged and raised his glass. To our better acquaintance! She made no sound, but while her eyes watched, her mind was working rapidly, his air was Bragert, but she could see that he wasn't any too sure of himself. He had thought to come here and by the ruse of the adhesive plaster merge his identity into that of his brother Jim, the lapse of time since she had seen him, and the illness had deceived her in the hospital, and so he had figured on the remarkable resemblance to his brother to help him carry off this situation with a careless hand.

But he hadn't reckoned with the alertness of her woman's intuitions, or God help her, the tenderness of yesterday, which held the image of the brother so close to her heart. Something of what was passing in her mind seemed to come to him. So you've fallen in love with my pretty beautiful. brother he muttered no complacent husband marie complaisant you wanted jim to take you in his arms and you only had me you don't care for my kisses why not we're just alike as like as two peas in a pod what's the difference come now tell me i'll be a good sport we we've got to come to an understanding she gasped at last desperately exactly an understanding that's what i'm getting at he laughed and sank into a chair by the lay figure oh don't be disturbed i'm not going to try to kiss you again it's too dangerous she watched him intently while he took out a package of cigarettes and lighted one and then with a wave of the hand an understanding by all the whole of all the way of the hand an understanding by all the means fire away it isn't necessary to go into the past except to say what you know already that our marriage was a horrible mistake but we did have an understanding then that you were to wait that you were to to make good and that i was to try to care for you quite so and we both failed thanks we we have both failed she repeated she repeated she repeated I can't say I ever really believed we should succeed until you went to the hospital

She bent her head the main thing is she went on more evenly as she gathered courage that whatever my hopes were for you now at least you forfeited all claim to consideration Why because I take a fancy to my own uniform my own Personality because you she paused to catch your breath because you stooped to something something unworthy something violent terrible perhaps god knows to get rid of a man your own brother who did your service and because you'll dare to receive honors that don't belong to you and then as he started up one moment i don't know what happened on the battlefield if you were injured it was a glorious foolish thing jim horton did for you but whatever he did whatever his motive it deserves something of you something different from what you've confessed tell me what you've done with him and i'll try to believe you he's quit i told you he protested there wasn't anything else for him where is he what does it matter he's out of your life out of mine no not out of your life she paused what do you mean merely that the truth of this thing must be told impossible it would ruin us both she gave a little gasp of relief tell me that-you mean merely that the truth of this thing must be told impossible it would ruin us both she gave a little gasp of relief tell me me where he is he's safe she deliberated a moment you've got to prove it to me he said he was coming back to the studio to-day instead you came in the uniform he wore he didn't give it to you willingly yes he lied sullenly he gave it to me there wasn't anything else to do when i turned up he realized he couldn't stay here with you and then oh he was square enough about it

there was a long pause he didn't ring true she had almost forgotten as he had what he had said in the fury of his jealousy she was aware that he had risen unsteadily from his chair and was approaching her so here moira he said in an ingratiating tone i'm not a bad sort really i'm not i-i was out of my head a while ago the way you came up to me thinking i was him i guess i wanted to hurt you the way you had hurt me i'm sorry i won't touch your fingers even if you don't want me to i was a rotter to try to kiss you i ought to have known you didn't want me to when i-i had had one or two too too many i've been worried too devilishly worried about the whole thing let's forget it and talk the thing over sensibly there may be a way out i don't want any honors that don't belong to me but i don't want to be dismissed from the service either or shot on jim's account but we've got to keep this thing quiet she understood his drift the facts in her possession made her dangerous. It can't be kept quiet, so long as Jim Horton is in danger. Who said he was in danger?

I said he'd quit, but you lied. He hasn't quit. He isn't the quitting kind. He was to have come to me today and told me the truth. I didn't know what it all meant then, but I do now he has got to have his chance. She saw him glare at her somberly. What do you want me to do? make me to him to-night that's impossible i couldn't find him yes you can find him or he would have found me he smeared out the ash of his cigarette in a receiver and rose his face livid you seem very sure of him and of yourself and if i don't find him for you what are you going to do i shall tell what i know to the proper authorities he stood for a moment balked and then before she knew what you he was about he stumbled to the studio door and turning the key in the lock put it in his pocket she was frightened by the significance of the action and ran quickly toward the door of her own room he turned and moved to intercept her but awkwardly and she slammed the door in his face catching the bolt on the inside she was frightened now desperately frightened but resolved to escape and tell what she knew the brother jim was in danger a prisoner somewhere otherwise he would have come to her much as his silence had injured her deeply as her pride was hurt at the position in which he had placed her she knew now that he had intended to tell the truth from his own lips and warn her of harry's return before he left her and went away alone he loved her it was his love that it sought to spare her

the humiliation of this very knowledge that had come to her shell-shock there was another reason for the substitution what but whatever it was there seemed little difficulty in choosing between them the other jim the man she loved she acknowledged it in every impulse would have come to her she had to find him just what she meant to do she didn't know except to get away from harry he was hammering on the door now pleading with her but she didn't answer catching up her hat and a heavy coat she went quietly to her own door into the hall and while he still hammered and pleaded fled quickly down the stairs and into the lodge of the concierge madame tupin aroused suddenly from her doze started up in amazement madame oton what is it she asked in french it is a game we play madame tupin you shall hide me in your closet and when monsieur le lieutenant comes you shall say that i have run out into the street you understand perfectly madame ah les jes d'amour entree-vite and she opened the door of the closet which moira entered quickly then madame tupin with a smile of wisdom composed herself to read her paper and in a moment a clatter of boots upon the stairway and the sound of footsteps upon the paving of the courtyard announced the approach of the officer through a crack in the door moira listened to the conversation which madame conducted with her amiable smile and presently harry horton withdrew frowning and went out hurriedly into the rue de tavern but while she stood upright in the closet listening moira had formulated a plan it was clear from the tone of harry's voice and is haste to go that her escape had frightened him for his judgment was not amiss when he decided that moira was fully capable of carrying out her threat

to tell the whole story to the military authorities but instead of clinging to her original intention a new idea had come to her if she followed him she could perhaps get a clue to the mystery of jim horton's disappearance she couldn't understand yet couldn't make herself believe that this man that she had married could be capable of a thing so vile but the evidence his own words stammered in his fury were damning the familiar formulas seemed to have no bearing now the war had made men demigods or devils and Harry it did not seem very difficult to decide tonight what Harry was she slipped on her heavy coat and the hat she had brought and with a word of explanation and caution to Madame Tupin she went out into the street far down upon the opposite sidewalk she saw a tall figure striding away into the darkness she followed, keeping at a distance, her coat-collar turned up, and her broad-brimmed hat pushed well

down over her eyes. She hurried along, keeping in the shadow of the opposite side of the street, trembling with the excitement of her venture and wondering what was to be its outcome. But sure from his gait that the situation she had created had developed in Harry Horton's hazy brain, some definite plan of action. She noticed, too, that he no longer swayed or stumbled, and that he glanced furtively to left and right, at the street corners, peering back toward her from time to time, but she matched her wits to his, crouching into corners as he turned, and then running forward breathlessly in the dark places, keeping him in sight. He turned into the narrow reaches of the rue de monsieur le prince past the lycet and the ecole de medicines and crossed the boulevard st germain into the network of small streets in the direction of the river twisting and turning in a way which confirmed her belief in the dishonesty of his purposes it was now long after midnight and the streets into which they moved were quiet and almost deserted

from the direction of the boulmiche came a rumble of vehicles the glare of lights the distant grunt of an automobile horn the clatter of a cab-horse down an echoing street the neighborhood was unfamiliar to her a part of old paris near the isle de la cité where the houses relics of antiquity were huddled into ghostly groups clinging to one another illumined fitfully by murky bracket lamps which only served to make their grim facades more sombre and fantastic dark shapes emerged from darker shadows and lured at her evil figures bent and bedraggled or painted and bedizened the foul night creatures of the city the scavengers the female birds of prey the night-hawks the lepers twice she was accosted once by a vile hag that clutched at her arm with skinny talons and began by a man who tried to bar her way but with a strength born of her desperation she thrust him aside and ran on her gaze seeking the tall figure that she followed more than once she lost sight of him as he plunged deeper and deeper into the maze and she paused trembling in the shadows not knowing which way to turn but gathering courage again, hurried on to catch the glint of a street light on his brown overcoat in the distance. Above the roofs, almost hanging over her,

she caught a glimpse of the grim towers of Notre Dame, the sentinels of a thousand years of time, and the sight of them gave her courage in this region of despair. With an effort she threw off her terror of the evil that seemed to hang in every shirt, shadow, trying to remember that this was Paris, her Paris, with familiar places close at hand, and that this man whom she followed was no creature of the Middle Ages, but Harry, her husband, that this was the twentieth century, that here was the very heart of the civilization of the

world. But the facts that had come to her were amazing, and Harry's confessions, damnable. It was clear that his position was desperate, and his intentions, none less so. Here somewhere hidden, she believed, Jim Horton lay, helpless and injured, if not by his brother's hand, by that of someone in his employ. It was the only answer to the riddle of his failure to come back to her. She must find him, before they took him away, before they her thoughts terrified her again harry wouldn't dare he was a coward at heart she knew it now besides there must be some spark of decency and manhood left to restrain him from so desperate so terrible and expedient to save himself she crept cautiously to the corner of a small street into which harry horton had turned it was scarcely more than an alleyway a vestige of the old city hedged in by squat stone houses with peaked roofs deserted it seemed and unoccupied beyond she could see the quay the loom of the hotel deux and notre dame

the house at which he had stopped was but a few yards from the river front she stole into the blackness of an angle of wall and watched he was knocking upon the door three quick taps followed by two slower ones for a while he waited impatiently and then as no one answered the summons he tried the window and then started up a small passage at the side not twenty feet from where she crouched her pulses were throbbing violently but the terror of her surroundings had passed and she tried to convince herself that she did not fear harry and yet she hesitated to confront him fascinated by her her discovery the brother jim was here she was as sure of it as though she had seen him she knew that she must intercede in some way but she was very helpless how many were there in this house and if she revealed herself would not the warning give them time to carry out whatever plan they had in mind and so she crouched watching breathless and and uncertain she saw him go back to the door and repeat the knock more loudly cursing under his breath and calling a name at the keyhole trico he called trico and in a moment she heard a sound at the door which was opened a few inches c'est moat trico she heard harry say and then the door was opened wide giving her a glimpse of a short man with hauseled hair and a diabolic face holding a lantern oh monsieur growled the man with a lantern stepping aside as harry wharton entered and just as moira sprang up her husband's name on her lips the door was closed and bolted she ran to it and then paused in uncertainty trying to plan what it was best to do she felt very small very helpless for the

a sight of the villainous-looking man with the lantern frightened her terribly he seemed to typify all the evil in all the world to explain in a glimpse all that was sinister and terrifying in the disappearance of jim horton an ugly creature of the world of underground an apache there were others like him here and harry there was no time to be lost her thought seemed to clear her courage to return as she cautiously returned by the way that she had come out into the wider street up which she hurried turning in the direction of the bulmish her one idea now was to find a policeman anyone with a vestige of authority men she met but she shrank away from them as she saw what they were and what they thought she was ten fifteen minutes of rapid searching without result and she turned toward the quay failing there over the petit pont to the island and the prefecture de police it was curious that she had not thought of it before the buildings were dark but she found at last a man in uniform to whom excitedly she told her story he listened with maddening politeness and at last took her to an office where several other men in uniform were sitting around a stove. More alarmed than ever at the passage of time, she told her story again. Here, she seemed to make some impression at last, for an older man who sat at a desk finally aroused himself and gave some orders. And in a few

moments with two of the policemen, she was leading the way back to the ques-s-s-Michelle. She was almost running now in her eagerness so that the men had to take their longest strides to keep up with her but more than ten minutes had already passed it seemed an eternity to moira and there was still some distance to go what was the name this man spoke at the door asked one of her policeman she told him ah trico parbleu i think perhaps mademoiselle that there may be some reason in your anxiety you know an apache of the old regime mademoiselle we would do well to find him and so explaining her fears but not yet revealing all the reasons for them she led the way down the streets by which she had come and to the house which harry horton had entered the older man knocked loudly upon the door there was no response again silence the other man went up the alleyway on the side and called to them there was a shudder and a window open without hesitation he drew a weapon and crawled over the sill the other man following leaving moira alone she listened as they moved about inside saw the glint of an electric torch and then heard the bolts of the door shot back and the police officer calling to her enter mademoiselle he said when she had come around you're sure that this is the house yes monsieur there's no one here the house is deserted it is a street of deserted houses that is impossible she stammered with my own eyes less than an hour ago this three co met the other at the door

alo we will search a little further then she followed them up the rickety stairway and then they found evidences of recent occupation two pallets of straw some food a bottle containing absinthe mademoiselle you are right this bottle is not yet empty there's something suspicious here and now moving with more rapidity they explored the house thoroughly descending at last into the cellar with weapons drawn moira half hoping half fearing following just behind them her gaze searching the shadows the place smelled of the earth and the walls were damp to the touch but a quick examination with the to the touch but a quick examination with the to the tot torch showed the marks of many footprints in the earthen floor the astonishing feature of the cellar was its size for it seemed to extend under two houses and its vaulted ceiling of rough stone of great antiquity was upheld by huge piers that might at one time have supported the walls of a great edifice at first they could make out nothing but a litter of papers bottles and packing-cases but as the torch of the police officer searched the shadows in a distant corner they heard his exclamation of astonishment there was another pallet of straw here covered with regs and quite distinctly there came to their nostrils the odor of chloroform moira peering over the shoulders of the man with the light saw him bend over and pick up a rag and examine it carefully there were dark stains upon it and then with another exclamation he picked up some pieces of rope someone lay here but a short while ago he muttered positively died hand and foot the bed is still warm they can't have gone far then but the door was bolted on the inside the window there would hardly

have been time is it not so manoiselle i don't know whispered moira in dismay is there no outlet to this place there must be the light monsieur yonder in the corners beyond the stonework the man with the torch his professional instincts now thoroughly alive obeyed they sounded the walls first one side and then the other coming at last in the further corner toward the river upon a stone arch over some steps leading into a dark opening the man who held the light suddenly extinguished it and a warning sound came from his lips listen he whispered scarcely able to breathe moira obeyed from the passageway at a distance there came the sounds of voices come follow me to pui mademoiselle had better remain and with that turning his light into the dark hole he descended the other following but the the thought of remaining alone in this terrible house frightened her, and she clutched at the hand of the second policeman, I dare not stay here, monsieur, I must go with you. But I warn you, it may be dangerous. And yet what could be more dangerous than remaining in the cellar of the Apache-Tricot? With shaking limbs, she followed down the passage, stumbling and clinging

to the shoulder of the gallant policeman. The man who led them disappeared, Bion, and the man who led them disappeared beyond a turn in the passage, but they reached it, and as they turned the corner, felt the chill of the night air beating in their faces, and in a moment they came out on the shore of the river near a boat landing. "'Donair de dieu!' shouted the man with the light, and started running toward the steps that led to the quay above. The other had reached the boat landing and stared for a moment down into the dark mists above the river. Then he ran up the steps after his companion. Frightened and mystified, Moira followed up the steps, where after a moment the two men

joined her. We have missed them. We were too late. But the captive, the prisoner, pleaded Moira in an agony of apprehension. That's the point, the prisoner, said the younger man. Wait a moment, Mademoiselle. And he ran down the steps to the boat landing again, peering eagerly down the stream already far away merely a blotch in the shadows beyond the pont neuf there was a boat at the quay du luvres there may be yet time and the two of them started running toward the distant bridge leaving moira to follow as fast as she could when moira reached them on the opposite side of the river breathless and almost dead of apprehension they were questioning a man on the man on the opposite side of the river breathless and almost dead of apprehension they were questioning a man on a man the Kediluvre. He reported that a man had attempted suicide by drowning and that a woman had saved him just as he was about to leap into the water. She herself had asked his assistance, and together they had hailed a passing fiacre, in which the woman had driven away. Did you notice

anything extraordinary about the rescued man? Questioned du Puy. Nothing except that he was very pale, also that there was an odor of chloroform on his clothing chloroform are you sure the man shrugged you may smell for yourself and he extended a hand and arm upon which the odor was unmistakable she heard the officer take the address of the witness and then turned to her mademoiselle is no doubt weary there is nothing more that can be done to-night if you will permit me to conduct you home a woman who moira nodded in a bewildered way a fiacre monsieur if you please she stammered i i am very tired end of chapter eight chapter nine of the splendid outcast by george gibbs this librivox recording is in the public domain recording by tony oliva piquette takes a hand as monsieur valcourt the sculptor had said piquette morin was a gamine she liked the warm nest in the boulevard clichy with which the duke de vaughtran had provided her because it satisfied a craving for the creature comforts which she had been so long denied and because it filled the hearts of other young women of her acquaintance with envy but she was not happy after all was she not young and had she not her life to live it was enough indeed to have grown in a few short years from a cellar of flowers and a model for the figure into a lady of fashion but her heart was still in the rive goshe and there she went when she pleased searching out her old haunts and the companions

of her days of want with whom she could throw off the restraint of her gilded cage and laugh with an open throat at the ancient jests and dance her way again into happiness life she loved all shades of it from the sombre in which she had been born to the brilliant artificial highlights of caf and restaurant all sorts of people she knew cochet bandits dancers poets singers poets singers satirists artists artists journalists and she rejoiced in them for what they taught her of the grande quite unhampered by morals of any sort trusting entirely to her impulses which were often good the creature of her birth and surroundings she was a pupil in the school of the world speaking after a fashion three languages she discovered that she had a brain and the war had made her think without the help of the americans france must fall and so when they came she rejoiced in their splendid soldierly appearance and the promise they gave of rescue and help for france she met harry horton in the tavern du pantheon he was quite drunk and didn't seem to have any hotel so she took him to the boulevard clich in a fiacre and put him to bed according to her own lights it was the only natural the only decent thing for her to do thus it happened that harry horton found himself to his surprise on excellent terms with a friend of the duke de votrins about whom barry quinlevin had been writing him the source of the the Irishman's income. In a reckless moment he confided to Piquette, Barry Quinlivan's secret, and as the Duke de Votrin had provoked her that afternoon, by refusing her the money for a hat

that she had particularly admired, she turned against her patron, entering with interest into a plan which eventually seemed to promise much, that she repented of her disloyalty the next day when Monsieur de Votrins relented was a disappointment to Harry Horton, who saw a way in which she could be useful to him. Also, Harry Horton was sure that he had talked too much, for it was hardly safe to make a confidante of a weather vein.

When Harry Horton left Paris to join his regiment, Piquet shrugged her pretty shoulders, and in a few days he was only a memory. he had been her belle ami but, even in the cartier, one got drunk like a gentleman. The meeting in the restaurant of Leone Jave came at an opportune moment. The Duke had again developed a habit of meticulous inquiry, also, for reasons of his own, had reduced her allowance.

The familiar figure in Brown was pleased, after the day of labor in the studio of m valcourt he represented a part of life that she could not taste and this very morning she had read of him in the bulletins as the hero of wasier wood and so she had welcomed him in her joyous way sure in spite of his deficiencies that their friendship had been no mistake a hero s'perlotte of course she was glad to see him but the reserve in his manner had mystified her he was like another man he was quieter finer gentler and yet very brave and strong a little t'est perhaps but more deep more interesting and touched with the dignity of one who faces death for a noble purpose but biquette had not lived in the streets of paris all these years for nothing a few months of warfare would not change a man's soul what was this strangeness what had come over him he had packed her home in a just when she was becoming most interested in this extraordinary transformation she had never before suffered from beak and it annoyed her that he shouldn't have been more eager to resume their ancient fellowship who was this unshaven fellow with the slouch hat and worn clothing who had so great acclaim upon his attention his figure too had a familiar look his man

had been urgent threatening even and harry had obeyed the summons banishing her piquette to the outer darkness of the boulevard and he had not written her or telephoned all day she waited in expecting to hear from him and expectation increased her interest and her disappointment also meditation gave her a perspective they were curious these second thoughts deepening the impression of a striking difference between this harry horton and the one who had gotten drunk in the tavern du idiosyncrasies that had escaped her during the few moments they had been together at javs came to her now with startling clearness the slow direct gaze the deliberate motions of the hands their touch on hers and and parbleu she started upright as a thought came to her like a coup de fudra the twisted little finger he had broken that night at the ponton it had bothered him only a few days and it had never been set she remembered now the fingers of the right hand of the visitor on his wine-glass at javes remarking how strong they were the little finger of the little finger was straight it was curious that such a trifle should come to her with such significance it was also curious that she hadn't noticed it at the time could she be mistaken when night came and she had not heard from harry she went out and made her way across the river leaving word where she was to be found if the visitor called and went straight to the cafe of gabriel poachar she

she and gabriel were friends of long standing many years ago when she was but a child model for fabian gabriel pochard had posed around the studios with long hair for prophets and saints but he had married some money and opened the caf which bore his name it was not a beautiful place and as she knew was frequented by persons not of the vre tipe the gamblers the sharpers the wealthy outcasts of all kinds who knew a good omelet when they tasted one and relished a particular kind of seclusion for here no questions were asked it was at gabriel poachard's that harry horton spent much time for he had come with a letter to gabrielle from m quinlevin who had known poachar since the days of posing for the great m it was here that she would find harry horton or news of him and information which would perhaps answer the strange sequence of questions that had come coming rising to her mind she had the french passion for the mysterious the unexplainable and with her own pride as the stake she meant to leave no stone unturned which would help her to a solution of the problem she found garville wearing a sober air busy with his bottles and the cafe was blue with tobacco smoke al mon vieu she said in the argo you were a worried look has leon jave been stealing away your customers ah seytois petit what brings you here alone

my foe my legs if you would know the truth and a woman's curiosity diane that is nothing new how can i help you i want you to tell me what you know of harry orton gabriel frowned and glanced about him cautiously sh he said warningly and then in a whisper who told you that monsieur orton was here she laughed did i not see him myself with my own eyes last night well at chavez and then in a meaning tone as she looked him in the eyes him or another he glanced at her his face which still showed traces of great beauty, twisted unpleasantly, and then beckoned her to follow him through a door nearby into his office. And when they were seated, what did you mean, Piquet? What I said, put in Piquet lighting a cigarette, him or another. And then as Gabriel's frown deepened, she shot straight at her mark. There are two Ari Hortons, Gabriel Poshal, she said coolly. The effect of her words on Gabriel was not

lost on her. He looked around him furtively and caught her by the wrist. Who told you this? It's true, then, asked Pickett, who told you? My own eyes. The visitor at Javez had no twisted little finger, and no one else has noticed? Not so far as I am aware. Gabriel Pouchard gave a great gasp of relief. Maffa, child, but you have sharp eyes. If they weren't, sharp, mon vieu. I would still be selling flowers outside the café, suflé. Tell me the truth of this, Gabriel, she said, settling herself in her chair with the air of one who has come to stay. It is what I came here to find out. He glanced at her, then frowned at the floor, and shook his head. Oh yes, mon dieu, you will tell me that it is none of my business, she said,

firmly it is my business my right to know and then as he remained silent you are aware that i am not one to be refused gabriel rose from the chair at the desk and paced up and down the narrow apartment but still he did not speak and then at last what devil put it into your head to come here inquiring of this matter the devil himself ay she said with a gesture and then with a little shrug and a sober mean you may trust me gabrie he stopped and sat in his chair again as you have said it is your right but it is no matter to be breathed outside this room it will not be the first time i have kept your secrets i should not tell you speak gabriel poachar shrugged last night late a man came in here to see me a man wearing old clothing and a three weeks growth of beard it was m he was very much excited and told me a remarkable story that rivals the tales of m hugo yes i understand go on he said he was wounded upon the battlefield at night when out of the dark night when out of the dark night when out of the dark night appeared just beside him the very image of himself it was his twin brother whom he had not seen for five years a brother with whom he did not speak ah it was what i thought the brother took from m horton his uniform and went on leading his men to victory it was the fight of boisierre wood you have heard picket nodded

this interloper took motton's uniform his rank and identity and now comes back to paris to motton's own apartment and motton's wife mott had started to her feet her fingers grasping the shoulder of gabriel his wife she broke in perfectly his wife repeated pochard you did not know he never told me she stammered who the daughter of my ancient friend monsieur barry quinlevin said pochard with a shrug you're sure as certain as i sit here my petite piquette sank into her chair frowning deeply go on she muttered they had met last night on the street in the dark monsieur horton demanded of his brother to relinquish his identity he refused monsieur horton came to me it was an act of injustice m horton was outcast something had to be done i helped him voila too piquette had been listening intently thinking deeply the while as pochard finished she searched his face keenly her frown deepening there's something at the back of this pochard tell me the rest poshart hesitated scratched his head and shrugged his shoulder i do not like it you understand it has worried me all day an american a soldier one cannot tell what would happen if the police piquette understood at once her fingers closed again over the arm of pochard what have you done with him pochar bent forward whispering he lies in the house in the richard

by the river a knock on the head c'est two and chloroform piquette was silent staring at the wall she fixed her wide gaze on the conspirator bah you are a fool poachar she shot at him they will catch you sure how much two thousand francs and you get half contemptuously who did it trico and le st janglis trico piquette got up and paced the length of the room turning quickly you are an idiot bouchard she stormed at him furiously an american don't you know what you have done it is the hero of bwcierge wood that you have struck down an american who has risked his life for you and me but monsieur he has lied to you i do not believe she broke off caught poachar by the arm again and shook him when did this happen late last night and ariotan was here this afternoon drunk posha shrugged no not bad he was in uniform where is he now i think he has gone to find his wife his wife picket sank into her chair took out a cigarette and smoked rapidly for a moment and then what were you going to do with this this twin brother ay poshaar gave a gesture of abnegation nothing i am through that is the affair of monsieur orto ay mon ami but you can't wriggle out so easily you've received money blood money

poshaar put his hands deep in his pockets and extended his long legs frowning at the floor i am sorry now it is a bad business the man is safe so far yes but trico he waits for orders picket ground her cigarette under her heel and rose abruptly with an air of decision this american must be liberated at once pochard rose and faced her it's too late he growled no it's not too late i know the sort that trico is with the river just there at his elbow i can do nothing that's what worries me trico and le st jean will look after their own skins now. You mean, she paused significantly. The scene? He nodded somberly. It is the solution of many problems.

She caught him by the shoulders and shook him. But not of this problem. You understand. It will not do. I will not have it. You, he laughed. What can you do? You shall go with me now and leave a

him he took her hands from his arms roughly and turned away no he growled not i have i not told you that i am true yes you will be true when the police come to find out what you know about the matter they will not find out don't be too sure harry hortong is a fool when he drinks he will betray you Poshar scowled and betray himself? You can't be too sure. I can't, but I must trust to luck. Piquette stamped her foot. I've no patience with you. And then, you will not liberate him?

No, I refuse to have anything more to do with the matter. You will regret it. Perhaps that will be my own lookout. She stared at him in a moment of indecision. and then with a shrug turned toward the door into the cafe you are an idiot cabriereuxa granted as he followed her you will say nothing matiolmeau scornfully i am not an informer but I should like to knock you on the head too she put her hand on the knob of the door where are you going he asked to the real charon he

caught her hand away from the knob and told her you why should you intrude in this affair it amuses me i warn you that you will run into danger they will not harm me you must not go yes i shall save you from the results of your cupidity since you will not save yourself i will not permit it you have nothing to say in the matter since you have washed your hands of it she threw his hands off and opened the door begit he called but she went rapidly into the other room before he could intercept her ran quickly out into the street and disappeared in the darkness she was throbbing now deep with purpose it was only in moments like these that life ran swiftly in her veins the excitement of the venture was like a tonic and she went on rapidly toward the boulmish as she walked she went over in detail the conversation she had had last night in the cafe jave it was not surprising that she had not guessed the truth last night for the new harry horton's information as to his brother's affairs had blinded her to the physical differences such as there were between them perhaps it was the glamour that his heroism had thrown about him perhaps it was his gravity or perhaps the depth of his voice or the penetrating quality of his steady gaze but she had not been able to deny all day a new and extraordinary appreciation of the newcomer whose virtues half guessed at seemed to bring harry horton's deficiencies into higher relief and the mystery of his sudden appearance and the strange tale of gabriel pocheer provided the added touches to stimulate her interest in him as she had told gabrielle

there was something back of this mystery of dual identity and she meant to discover the truth as to one thing she was resolved the beautiful young soldier of the caf javert should not die if there was anything that she could do to prevent it tricoe was a bad one so was le st janglis either of them was capable of anything she was acquainted with them both but she did not fear them for she knew the freemasonry of their evil calling and had even been in the little room of gabriel pochall when they had discussed their business affairs but this matter concerned a human being in whom she was interested no harm should come to him it could not be she wanted him for herself and so at last having decided that she must move with caution and leave the rest to chance and opportunity she went toward the house in the rich charon she had been there before some years ago with gabriel poachar when the boat-load of champagne from up the river had been smuggled in thus it was that she knew the secret of the old passage to the river bank hidden from the opposite shore by a barricade of old timber so instead of approaching the house by way of the rucharon she went down toward the river and turned in to the quay des augustin there were a few people about but she watched her opportunity and when she reached the steps descended to the boat landing where she found herself alone and unobserved hidden from the lights above by the shadow of the retaining wall here she paused a moment to think and plan according to all the rules of the underworld the prisoner would be in the cellar of the house in the rich charon

but if trico or le sange were taking turns guarding him there her problem would be difficult because it meant a scene in which her persuasions and promises of immunity might fail and trico could be ugly money yes perhaps if everything else failed but she had a sense of pride in the belief that with luck favoring her she could accomplish this rescue alone at any rate she meant to make the attempt and so she found the end of the tunnel and with some difficulty and damage to her gloves and clothing wrenched at the boarding the timbers were old and rotten as she knew and it was not difficult to make a passage it was so easy in fact that she began to believe that trico had more wisely kept his prisoner upstairs but as she moved forward cautiously one hand steadying her progress over the rough masonry she caught the first dull glimmer of yellow light as she came to a turn in the passage she paused a moment and then stole forward quietly to the foot of the steps peering up into the cellar at first she could see nothing but a litter of boxes bottles and waste-paper and then coming up one step at a time she searched the recesses of the cavern one by one a smoke-stained lantern burned dimly near the foot of the flight of steps leading to the floor above but there was no sign of anyone watching and the smoke-stained lantern burned dimly near the foot of the flight of steps leading to the floor above but there was no sign of anyone watching and so she emerged cautiously from the dark hole and stood up in a moment she found what she was looking for huddled in the corner to her right she made out the contours of a human figure with another quick glance toward the steps and a moment to listen for any sound above she approached noiselessly he was trussed with a rope from head to foot his hands tied behind him

but he was the man she sought she bent over him noticing his heavy breathing and the odor of the drug at the touch of her hand he stirred slightly and she saw the blood upon his face monsieur she whispered quickly it is i picket and i have come to help you he stirred again and tried to move but the drug was heavy in his blood so she shook him furiously trying to arouse him it is piquette she whispered again his lips moved and his eyelids fluttered open bighette he muttered and then breathed stertorously this was encouraging she shook him again and again fighting the lethargy he moved and groaned it seemed almost certain that his guardians must hear him sh she whispered silence meanwhile she was struggling with the knots of the cord that bound his wrists at last she meant to get his arms free and move them backward and forward with all her strength trying to restore his circulation then she unfastened the cords at his feet and pulled his knees up thumping him from time to time and whispering at his ear wake up monsieur you must get out of this with me his lips moved again oh his piquette monsieur she repeated prodding at him and shaking his shoulders this time his eyelids opened water and he looked at her vaguely but his lips muttered her name you must rouse yourself you must we are going out of here at once with an effort he struggled up to a sitting posture while she supported him pinching his shoulders and arms then she saw for the first time an earthen pitcher on a stool nearby there was still some water in it and she threw it in his face he sputtered and choked but she silenced him quiet for your life they're upstairs aren't they yes upstairs i-i'm weak as a cat naturally but you've got to help yourself i can't carry you carry me no he toppled sideways and would have fallen but she caught him and held him shaking and pinching him again

no you've got to wake up do you hear she whispered desperately they may come down here at any moment a dim notion of what she was talking about seemed to come to him for with an effort he threw off the heaviness that was coming over him again you picket how did you buy an old passage from this cellar to the river you must go out that way do you understand me he nodded feebly. River, he muttered. There was another struggle against the drug, and another, but at last she got him to understand. He was very weak, but managed to support himself with an effort, sitting upright, while Piquet ran over toward the foot of the steps and listened intently, for if Tricot and the Englishman were listening, they must surely have heard something of the commotion she had made. But there was a little. was no sound she went back to the injured man would he be able to walk she shook him again and

pointed to the way by which she had come it is there in the corner the way of escape you must make the effort she helped him struggle to his knees one of his arms around her shoulders but when she attempted to get him to his feet his knees gave out and he fell, dragging her down with him. It was at this moment of failure that a sudden clamor of knocking at the street door upstairs came, with terrifying clearness to her ears, and the sound of a masculine voice calling the name of Tricot. There was no time to be lost, yet what was she to do? She was strong, but she could not lift the American bodily, and he had collapsed again upon the floor. for an agonized moment she listened a long silence and then the knocking was renewed followed by the sound of another voice upstairs and the tread of heavy feet going toward the door desperate now and aware that only the american's own efforts could save him she lifted him again by sheer strength to his knees

they'll be down here in a moment she stammered in his ear you've got to help yourself you've got to crawl on your knees toward the corner beyond the pillar i will help you he seemed to understand and struggled a few feet paused in weakness then struggled on again and all the while piquette was listening to the sounds upstairs the voices which now seemed to be near the head of the stairway coming to her ear ears distinctly we've got to get him away from here out into the country somewhere and lose him harry horton's voice why growled a voice in english moira quinlevin knows the truth an oath from thryko as the other translated who told her no one she guessed it pablo we shall take no chances then you must take him away a cab out into the the country said Harry's voice again and leave him to recover and set the police on us not much he'll have to go the long road my God no not that cried Harry the river growled trico and then the other voice you started this thing and it's got to be finished did you bring the money tomorrow but I can't there was the beginning of a violent discussion in

which trico's advice seemed to prevail. Harry's opinions wouldn't matter much to these precious villains. But Biggett had heard enough. It seemed that they were about to descend the stairs to the prisoner, and glancing backward she labored with the injured man until they reached the shadows of the pillar into which she pushed and dragged him until they were both hidden from the light of the lantern. But the steps into the passage were still ten feet away. Already there were were footsteps on the stair where one of the men stood still arguing with Harry Horton. With a final effort, she urged the drugged man toward the opening and then tumbled him down into the darkness. She heard the steps coming down the stairs, heard them pause and a voice

again raised in argument, but she listened no more. The situation was desperate, for in a few seconds at the least the escape of the prisoner would be discovered so forgetting caution she pinched and shook him by main strength of her strong young arms urging him forward something of the imminence of his danger seemed to come to him for he crawled to the corner and then stumbled in some fashion to his feet clinging to her the air beyond the turn in the passage seemed to revive him and in a moment swaying and struggling against his weakness he stood outside the opening upon the river bank leaning against the wall while piquet thrust the boards across the opening she heard a cry now from beyond the passage and with the injured man's arm around her shoulders led the way down the bank to the landing he caught her in tension there was a boat there and she got him into it and pushed off from the shore into the stream she was almost exhausted by this time but managed to get out the oars and make some progress down the river before the timbers fell from before the opening in the wall and three men appeared trico harry and the englishman she saw their shapes dimly in the shadow of the wall but a strange thing happened then for the three figures went flying up the steps to to the quay and then ran as though for their lives in the direction of the pont-s-michel but she managed at last to reach the quay du l'hruv where with the help of a belated passer-by she managed to get the man she had rescued into a fiacre and so to the boulevard cliché end of chapter nine chapter x of the splendid outcast by george gibbs this librovoc's recording is in the public domain recording by tony oliva the samaritan

when jim horton came to his senses after his rescue he found himself in a small room overlooking a pleasant faade of gray stone tinted softly by the pale morning sunlight it was some moments before he managed to gather his scattered wits together, and out of the haze and darkness in which he had been groping for two nights and a day, recall the incidents of his escape, Piquette. He remembered, but what was this room? There had been a cab drive late in the night. He had been carried up a flight of stairs. As he turned in the bed, he was aware of a figure which rose from the corner of the room and approached him it was an oldish woman in the neat uniform of a maid she smiled monsieur is awake and then moving toward the door madame shall come at once but when piquette entered the small room attired in a gorgeous pink lounging robe of silk and lace and wearing a boudoir cap embroidered with silken flowers and golden thread she dazzled him for a moment with her splendor and he did not recognize her she came forward to him quickly and laid her cool hand on his brow ah mon petit seigneur and then in english how do you feel better but everything doesn't seem very clear to me yet naturally you must have some food and the doctor will be here soon jem horton glanced about the small room would you mind telling me where i am he asked

this room is in the hallway adjoining my apartment you brought me here last night she said with a smile and a beautiful time we had getting you up the stair i-i remember a man with a lantern and then a-and-a-mere a beautiful time we had getting you up the stair i-i remember a man with a lantern and then a-one struggle with you helping through a passage to the river a boat a vatier and in here she added as he paused he put out his hand and fingered the lace of her sleeve why why did you do this for me bickette she caught his hand pressed it in hers and then rose abruptly what does it matter you shall talk no more until after the doctor has seen you later in the day after jim horton had slept again bickett visited him dressed for the street in a few words she told him how she had guessed at the double identity then confirmed it and then how she had discovered the means harry horton had employed to get his brother out of the way she dwelt lightly on his rescue from the house in the rich charon and explain quite frankly her own relations with the criminals s'est la grande vie monsieur l'american she said with an expressive gesture you remember perhaps what m valcourt has said i am still de rae gamine i know that a villain pochersin's i am so high but why have you done this for me piquette when you found out that i was not my brother oh la la who can tell perhaps i like you a little the night in javas they thought of the adventure perhaps but more that trico and le st janglier they would have thrown you in the river monsieur

you saved my life yes you see monsieur monsieur she paused in search of a name my name is jim horton jim ss deyton there wasn't anything else for me to do you were a good american who had fought at la boissiere for france and for me and he had not it could not be that you could not be that you could not be that you could not be that you could not be that you you should die but there are many things i do not yet understand if you would tell me jim horton was silent a moment thinking deeply you were a friend of my brothers he put it more in the form of a statement than a question yes jim horton she said before he went to the front that does not matter now i can assure you what happened at wosier wood my my poachar told me what erie orton said and she related it as nearly as possible in pochard's own words jim horton listened smiling slightly until she had finished and then i had intended to keep silent about this thing piquette but i'm not going to keep silent now i'm going to tell the truth whatever happens to harry or to me he would have killed me no she broke in i think harry was frightened at what he had done he wasn't too frightened to get those chaps to knock me in the head he put in dryly then broke off with a sudden sense of the situation i hope madame that you do not care for him she had been watching him intently and now put her hand over his no no jim horton she said carelessly but tell me the truth

he looked at her for a long moment no one has a better right to know it than you and then without ornamentation he related the facts from the unfortunate moment that night when he had put on harry's uniform and gone into the fight until he had met his brother in the rue de tavenne she heard him through to the end you have not told me everything gymorton and then significantly about madame madame hortoon he frowned and then went on with an assumption of carelessness the situation was impossible as you will see i would have gone away he shrugged if harry hadn't saved me the need of it but now he paused and clenched a fist he has much to answer to me for she was silent for a while watching him a coward i might have known she murmured after a moment in the conversation that followed many things were revealed to jim horton many things to piquette he learned from her own lips every detail of the story of quinlevin's plot against the duke and what was to be moira's share in it and he listened in anger and amazement as to her relations with she spoke with the utmost frankness he was not a pleasant person and to her mind for all his money and position possessed fewer virtues even than the outrageous bouchard and his crew who at least were good-natured villains and made no pretences the duke was stingy cruel self-obsessed and degenerate

why she had not cut loose from him and gone back to live in the cartier she did not know except that it was comfortable in the boulevard clichy and she was tired of working hard he found himself regarding piquette with interest the type was new to him but he liked her immensely she might betray her duke but in her own mind she would have perfectly adequate reasons for doing so as to moira little enough was said if she suspected anything of his tenderness in that quarter she gave not a sign of it but he could see that the facts as to his brother's marriage had come as a surprise to her and now gie morton said piquette the next morning when he had strength enough to sit in a chair by the window what are you going to do about it he thought for a moment you have given me my life i should dislike to do anything that would give you unhappiness as to that mon petit she said carelessly you sell do what you think you know perhaps that to-morrow in the place de la concord your brother harry is to receive the quadr he had forgotten but the announcement had no effect upon him it does not matter, he muttered. What he had been thinking in his moments of wakefulness was of Harry going to the studio in the Rue de Taven. Moira was his wife. Would she, like Piquette, learn at once of the

deception, or would she accept him? You do not care for the honors, you have won, asked Piquette, breaking on his thought. They weren't my honors. But you bear the wounds? Yeah. and their proofs my brother will find it hard to answer but tell me piquet what you have heard do they suspect you of having carried me off pickett laughed no i saw a mil poachard last night he does not dare speak trico harry le sange i saw them at pochards they think you are a devil it is the police where is the most the police someone followed harry orton to the house in the rich charon and told the police they came just as we escaped your brother was lucky to get away who could this have been i don't know but what does he matter since you are safe and then after a long pause no arm has been done except to your poor head we must let the matter drop gie morton it is better so if that is your wish piquette yes it will be safer for us both for you because you must keep an hiding for me because i have a reputation at stake his eager look inquired her meaning emil pocheer would never trust me again he laughed and you value the friendship of m trecoe no but i know the law of the apache it would not be pleasant to have one's throat cut and be thrown in the same

the true meaning of the danger that she had run for him gave jim horton a new and lively sense of his obligations and responsibilities to this strange creature he caught her hand to his lips and kissed it warmly how can i ever repay you he blurted out her face flushed gently and she regarded him with eyes almost maternal what a boy you are she laughed but a stranger to you to have run such risks to have made such a struggle just because you knew i was helpless it amuse me jim orton sometimes i think it is fear that is the grand passion when one has tasted everything else in life fear to succeed it and adventure like this and no voila quite safe and comfortable and each of us has made a friend is not this worth all the trouble piquette he said you are a wonder i'll never forget ah yes you will muntie she broke in with a shrug you are different from harry you are always le grand serial it was what i noticed at chavez you will love much but you will never lie just to make a woman happy and me you will forget gie morton never he said stoutly never piquette you are the bravest squirest woman in the world she laughed again alon for that i shall kiss you mon ami and she did with a friendly frankness upon the mouth it was a very pleasant sanctuary this into which fortune had thrown him but deep in his heart jim horton knew that piquette had read him truly he was no panderer to women's caprices and he could not forget the tragedy of the woman he loved which might almost be laid at his door

you don't mind my kissing you monte she asked no i like it said horton with a laugh but piquette knew life in the streets of paris had given her a sense of the fourth dimension, and curiously enough her prescience only quieted her, made her a little graver, matching her mind, her mood, to his. He provided a new sensation this outcast hero who owed her his life, and yet was to pay her only in gratitude. Jim Horton was penniless, for with an irony not lost on him, the money he had gotten from the bank had gone to pay trico and le sages their price for his knock on the head the clothing he found himself in had been none too good when harry had worn it and the incarceration in the filthy cellar had done nothing to improve it outcast he might be but he meant while he had money in bank at least to look presentable so piquette got him a blank check from the bank which he made out and piquette cashed and the next day when he was able to go out he bought himself a suit he came back in the afternoon and with much pride exhibited his purchase she gave the clothing her approval and then shrugged

and now m jim you'll be going away nispa is it not better piquette i have not the honor of m de votrins a acquaintance. Oh, that, she said with a quick gesture. He lebet, he would never know. Jim Horton put his hands on her shoulders and made her look in his eyes. That's not the way, Biquette. You are too fine not to see. I can't be an object of your charity any longer because it's his charity.

I owe you my life. I want to pay, but not like this. I want you. to see my gratitude in my eyes the depth of my friendship i want you to know that what you've done for me has given a new meaning to courage and unselfishness she turned her head away as he paused and then gently took his hands from her shoulders i can pay piquette he insisted quietly you do not love the duke de vaughtran come away from here with me i have a little money i can get more from america we will find you a place in the cartier where you will be happy until you have the home you deserve and you she faltered what i do doesn't matter an outcast she started you will leave paris i do not know she released her fingers quickly and went to the window looking over the rooftops in a long significant moment of silence and the other woman she spoke the words distinctly and yet he thought she must have misunderstood bickett i what happens between you and your brother's wife she asked quietly he had no reply and while he hesitated she turned slowly and faced him

i know monty she said with a smile i have known it from the first you love her c de mage it is a pity she is very beautiful they say i am a fool bickette you are not the first in the world he sank on the edge of the bed wondering at his own confession i was sorry for her for her innocence married to a man like that she was kind to me i played the part and kept silence they were going to use her palm her off as de vaughtron's child he paused and looked up at piquette aware that the topic that he had not dared to broach now suddenly loomed between them bickett faced him gravely yes mon ami she said and the rising inflection was very gentle i do not know what you wish to do bickette and it is not for me to say but before i was hurt i had planned to find out all the facts of this conspiracy and tell both harry's wife and the duke de vautrin you have given me the facts do you want me to you used them. Piquette was silent a moment, regarding him with a smile. Well, mon ami, has anything happened to make you change your mind? He looked up at her in wonder. Piquette, I thought, he began, but she broke in lightly. You sell do what you wish, but it is a difficult game you play and danger. You don't

know, Monsieur Cuenlevin. If Tricot is the world, and emil pocheard the fox it is berry queenlevin who is the tiger harry orton knows he is afraid what you call eat out of his hand i've got to beat him picket eh bien but remember he is not a man to be easily vanquished he is very quiet very cool le verre gentilum but he is He has sharp claws, Jim Horton. A thief. And of your train? She broke in. Monsieur le duke is no better than he.

He did not care how he got the money. Horton paced the room slowly in deep abstraction, but in a moment stopped before her and caught her hands in his. Be kicked, he said gravely. You were in this thing. I don't know why or how, because a woman with a soul as big as you are. oughtn't to be stooping to this kind of rottenness for a long while she made no reply but she turned her head away and looked out of the window i can't change the way i was born jim orton she said quietly he was silent aware of the false situation and thinking deeply i've got to tell her the truth piquette he said at last another moment of silence and this

then picket turned toward him both arms outstretched you are right mon ptie jim you sell go to her and tell her piquette i n'n't fisch pa go it is nothing to me jim horton had risen and put his arms around her turning her face up to his and kissing her gently she made no resistance but she did not return his caress you are too good for him piquette she stirred uneasily in his arms and then released herself go she said go will you meet me to-night at javas yes au revoir mon brave she watched him go down the stair and then turned in at the door of her own apartment jim horton was no squire of dames but he couldn't be unaware of the attractions of this lovely pagan like her he was an outcast and their ways perhaps lay along the same paths to oblivion but before he started down that road he had a duty still to perform a wrong to set right and he meant to do it without delay if harry had succeeded in ingratiating himself with moira he knew that she must despise him for his betrayal of her credulity but he meant to seek her out just the same and tell her the truth about barry quinlevin as he knew it he wanted to see her again just this once in order to try and justify himself in her eyes for his imposture and then he would go he didn't much care where but he realized as he crossed the river that it was not going to be an easy matter to reach her unobserved.

He knew that Harry must be passing some uneasy moments, and it was better that Harry didn't see him just yet. But there was the watchful Madame Tupin to pass, and it was still half an hour until dusk when he hoped to slip through the gate and up the stairs. Meanwhile, he found himself a lodging in an obscure street and then with his hat brim pulled down walked into the Rue de Tavenne and boldly approached the familiar gate madame Oughton he asked we missy she's in do you know the way nothing could have been more simple madame tupin had pulled the latch without even looking at him end of chapter ten chapter eleven of the splendid outcast by George Gibbs. This Libravox recording is in the public domain,

recording by Tony Oliva. Confessions. It all seemed like a horrible dream to Moira, the revelation of Harry's vileness, the prison by the river, the police, the escape of Jim Horton with the unknown woman, the homeward ride with the police officer, and the night in the studio. apartment with locked doors waiting listening for harry's return until at last through sheer exhaustion of mind and body she had fallen asleep and then the visit the next day of the police officer the questions that she had to answer but he got nothing from her beyond the mere skeleton of the tale which she had given the night before she wouldn't tell how she got to the rich charon some instincts still sealing her lips as to her husband's share in the adventure and inventing a tale that seemed to satisfy the requirements of the interview no crime had been actually committed though all the circumstances were suspicious the officer told her that a search would be made for the man named trico and that madame horton should hold herself in readiness to him appear against him, if necessary, at some future time. The return of Harry Horton, her husband,

the next afternoon, contrite and humility itself was unpleasant, but they reached an understanding pending the return of Barry Quinlavin from Ireland. She kept the secret of her visit to the house in the Rue Chauroix, and her knowledge of the escape of the prisoner, she saw that her husband was worried and furtive and she had no difficulty in exacting from him a promise not to molest her in return she promised silence and he departed with every protestation of friendship and good-will somewhat reassured as to her intentions as to jim horton the twin brother who had worked such havoc in her life moira was the very much troubled and disturbed the hurt to her pride was grievous but the joy she had in the very thought of him seemed to assuage all wounds she knew now that if he had died in the house in the rue charon that night she would have worshipped him all her life as a martyr to their unfortunate affection and the memories of jim horton's tenderness on the day of their parting the gentleness of his abnegation his struggle against the temptation of her nearness all these thoughts of him obliterating the horrors that had followed returned and engulfed her with pity their love had seemed so perfect a thing but now a mockery she felt very friendless in the big studio very much alone

and yet could she confess to her father her love for this brother who had come in and taken harry's place the hurt to her pride burned again angrily her father like herself had been deceived by the brother at the hospital and what sympathy could she expect from him he would be furious at the deception that had been practised upon them both and would perhaps take harry's part against her moira clenched her hands and stared long into the gray cinders of the fireplace if it was to be war she would fight she had married harry in a moment of pity because her father had wished it but the understanding had been definite and now she would rather run away even from her father than to fulfil the terrible vows she had taken jim horton she wanted to hear his side of the story reviving faith in him made her sure that if he were alive he would come to her and tell her everything a cautious step on the stair outside a knock she went over quickly turned the key in the lock opened the door then stood staring unable to speak it's i moira said jim horton gently you she faltered I said that I would come back, but I was detained, he said coolly. If he had expected her to be surprised at his appearance out of uniform, she gave no sign of it.

She opened wide the door and stood aside. I know, she murmured. I won't stay long, but there were some things I wanted you to know, some facts in extinuation of my conduct that may make you think less bitterly of me you look ill she said staring at him it is all too horrible to think about horrible if you like he said slowly misinterpreting her meaning but done in a weak moment with a good motive oh not that i mean what the did to you the danger you passed through you know of that yes i followed harry and got the police it was you good god it was the least that i could do after i found out from him what had happened he stared at her in incomprehension you mean that he confessed to you she nodded and then laughed nervously

i don't know why i should be keeping you standing at the door sill like a model if you've much to say you'd better say it's sitting jim he started and stared at her but she had closed the door behind him and led the way with an assumption of carelessness to the chairs by the dead fire as though aware of its symbolism you know the truth she shrugged what harry my husband has told me no more no less he marvelled at her ease at the cruelty of her chosen phrases and yet he could not cavil at them it was clear that she meant that there were to be no further misunderstandings that she was shifting the burden to his shoulders where it belonged the sense of his culpability weighed upon him and he did not look at her and so he missed the quick anxious sensitive glances that searched his face for the truth in his heart but he bent his head forward and stared into the ashes that had glowed so warmly a few nights ago i have come to speak the truth he began his voice deep resonant and trembling with his emotion a visit of confession and renunciation it's rather late isn't it she said and hard little voice that he scarcely recognized as her own he knew that he deserved this of her and more but it cut him none the less i will tell you the truth he went on firmly and then you shall judge for yourself i owe it to you to tell the facts but i owe it to myself too she nodded and sat and so quietly neglecting no detail he told her of harry from the moment of their meeting on the battle-field

until they had met outside in the rue de tavern he heard moira gasp at the mention of harry's cowardice but he went on to the end without pause something of what followed you know he went on quietly i tried to tell them the truth in the hospital i said i wasn't harry horton they didn't believe me they thought i was still out of my head and so i lay there for a while silent i think i must have been pretty weak he paused a moment to gather his thoughts there were some letters to harry i had no right to read them but i did a letter from you to him about your marriage showing what a farce it was a letter from barry quinlevin he paused and frowned it was an invasion of your privacy and his but you were nothing to me then i was sure that i would never meet you i thought that i would wait a few days before i tried to tell the officers of the hospital who i was it was a hard thing to do because it meant that i would have to pay the penalty of a military crime but sure after what you'd done mora's voice broke in clearly they couldn't be punishing you disgraceful imprisonment and for harry the penalty of desertion in the face of the enemy you see there were two of us to consider yes i understand then you came suddenly without warning his voice sank to a deep murmur and he bent his head it was a moment for decision i hadn't it i was weak i let you believe that i was your husband it-it seemed the easiest way just then god knows i mention no harm and god knows i've suffered for it

he rose and leaned upon the mantel his face turned away from her summoning courage for the harder thing that he still had to say and there's something else that made me do what i did he began something more he heard her question what do you mean he paused a moment it's hard to tell you but i must and then have you ever heard of the duke de votrins he asked yes she uttered in bewildered tone the name is familiar to me but what mr quinlevin has mentioned him yes i think so a man he met many years ago in ireland but why do you ask because his life and yours are bound up in each other mine he paused painfully moira perhaps i'm breaking all the ties in your life that you had thought most sacred but i've got to tell you what i know i don't understand you frighten me god knows i've given you pain enough already i'm a bird of ill omen but i'm going on if you'll let me she sat motionless her strained white hands gripping the chair arm under the cover of the dressing-table in the room there where i slept are the two letters that i read in my bed in the hospital the one from you the one from barry quinlevin i left them there when i went away unless some one has removed them they should be there now in obedience to the suggestion she rose and went quickly out into the hall and into the deserted room harry had not entered it nor had she even told him of the valises containing his impedimenta that had been sent down from headquarters the letters were there trembling with uncertainty she found them and glanced at the familiar handwriting

her own and her fathers and then came back to the door of the studio there she stood a moment weighing the letters in her hands jim horton stood as she had left him leaning upon the mantel-shelf his gaze upon the extinguished fire it seemed that lost in his own gloomy reverie he had already forgotten her never in all the weeks that she had known him not even when he had lain in his hospital bed had he seemed a more pitiful figure than now needing her as she god help her needed him what did it matter what this letter contained in her heart she knew that the only thing that mattered to her was the love that this man bore her she had recognized it in the deep tones of his voice which had thrilled her again and in the attitude of submission which had anticipated the change in her sentiments it was a moment for decisions like his moment in the hospital she had only to tell him to go and she knew that he would have obeyed her but like jim horton she no longer had the strength some instinct told her that here in this outcast soldier this splendid outcast was a rock that she could cling to she glanced over the stair and then entering the studio quietly slowly approached him letters in hand you wish me to read she asked yes please moira she glanced at him and then sank into the armchair and opened barry quinlevin's letter for a long while there was no sound but the rustle of the paper in her fingers at last he heard her stir slightly and glanced up better her face was deathly pale my father de viz the money has stopped coming what does it all mean she asked and what are those papers what is the agency working against him

and what does he mean by putting the screws on it means that barry quinlevin is his blackmailing the duke de votrins has been doing so for years he said in a suppressed tone. She rose and faced him, her breast heaving, blackmail, my father, he bowed his head. Unfortunately, it's the truth. He spoke to me of it in the hospital, thinking I was hairy. She raised the letter again and read, I can't believe, I can't. But her words trailed off into silence as she read again the damning phrases. His heart was full of tenderness and pity for her, and he caught her by the hand. Moira, dear, he murmured, I wouldn't have spoken of this,

but you are involved. I couldn't understand for a long while. They're using you as a cat's paw, a snare, a stool pigeon. Perhaps you don't even know the meaning of the words. It's too hideous. Yosen me. She seemed unaware of her fingers still in his.

How can they use me? I know nothing whatever of this affair. he led her to her chair again and made her sit listen he said gently and i will tell you all that i've found out about it i can't believe who has told you biquette morin biquette her brows drew together a friend of-of your husbands he said it was she who first discovered our dual identity in the caf jave a friend of harry's who took pity on me the woman who who helped you to escape she gasped awakening yes she shared the secrets of this intrigue and when they knocked me out she guessed the truth found out where they had put me and went in through the passage from the river it was she who took me back to her apartment and nursed me oh she faltered i-i see but what reason have you to believe that she speaks the truth truth he had taken his place by the mantle again unfortunately i had already proved it by the mouth of harry himself he broke off and met her piteous eyes squarely oh i wouldn't have cared what they did if they if you hadn't been a part of the plan i would have told you who i was the other night and gone away but it was too cruel barry quinlevin is a strange man he loves you perhaps he wants you

to see you rich happy but he became desperate when the source of his income was cut off the irish rents there were no irish rents moira the source of his income all these years and yours has been the duke de votrins hush money paid to keep a secret holy virgin then i she paused bewildered by the very terror of her thoughts listen moira you must know it all as nearly as I can get it the story is this twenty-five years ago the Duke de Votrins married an Irish heiress from Athlone in Galway named Mary Callenby receiving with her her immense dough with a provision from her father's will that if any child was born the fortune should go to that child in the event of the

mother's death callenby whispered moira half to herself ath long the duke de vaughtron was a beast and mistreated his wife so that she ran away from him into ireland where a daughter was born to her mary callanby dying in childbirth and then softly do you follow me moira it's very important i'm trying to follow you she murmured painfully when mary calenby left the duke de vaughtron went upon a voyage around the world enjoying himself with her money for two years and unaware of the death of his wife or of the birth of his little daughter who was cared for and nursed by a woman named nora burke norah burke moira had started up suddenly in her chair her eyes wide with sudden comprehension you remember her he said my old nurse he had

Yes, it's here that the story involves your fortunes and and Barry Quinlvan's. The infant daughter of the Duke de Votrin died at the end of a few months, without his being aware of it, without his even being aware that a daughter had been born. The death of this child was kept a secret. But why? Why? Pleaded Moira, a glimmering of the intrigue coming to her. Jim Horton turned away again.

it was necessary that the Duke de Votran should remain in ignorance of it. Holy Virgin! You mean that Nora? Nora Burke and Barry Quinlavin. You were of the same age as the child of the Duke de Votran. There were few neighbors. Your mother had also died in childbirth. Nora Burke came into Barry Quinlivan's house as nurse.

Oh, it is impossible, gasped Moira. I can't, I can't believe it. it is what i'm to help you to prove but there must be papers birth certificates witnesses perhaps i don't know moira all of these things seem uncertain the idea is that barry quinlevin taking pity on the fatherless child of the duke and mourning his own child that had died had brought the little girl into his own house to keep her until the duke's return oh it is infamous that was the way nora burke came into the house of barry quinlevin and that was the way you became the daughter and heiress of mary callanby hi her he nodded i do not know all the facts but it seems that when the duke de vaughtron returned to paris he was met by barry quinlevin with proofs of his daughter's existence it was to the duke's interest to keep the matter secret since the income from the calenby fortune which he enjoyed would of course go to the child and from that day to this the matter has been kept a secret and barry quinlevin has been paid for keeping it moira had risen and was pacing up and down the length of the studio it is too horrible it bewilders me who told you all this biquette morin harry told her and and harry his interests and yours were the same

she buried her face in her hands for a moment wait she gasped i must think think so jim horton was silent watching her anguish with pity and anxiety but at last she grew calmer and sank into the chair reading Barry Quinlivan's letter to Harry again and yet this might refer to something something else she pleaded catching at any straw that would save her from this disgrace he shook his head I wish I could reassure you but I can't the facts are too clear she was silent a moment breathing hard it was terrible for you to have to tell me this yes but you understand that i had to don't you she bowed her head and he went on and now i only want you to tell me how i can help you how i can make things easier what shall i do what can i she halted again intimidated at the thought of her father and then if i were only sure of

course the duct of eauvel tram must be told at once there's no hurry you must think it over verify my statements when you can yes yes i must i refute them i see that i want to help you i'll do anything yes i know she paused again whom can i trust now he caught her fingers and pressed them softly to his lips it is a terrible situation for you but you can't go on as a partner in this intrigue no of course i must be finding out speaking to to him to my father and then turning to him whom can i trust unless it's you he relinquished her fingers and turned away i deceived you moira cheated you that doesn't matter now nothing matters you mean that you will forgive me he leaned forward toward her searching her face eagerly yes yes she whispered moira god help me i've the need of you he fell to his knees beside the chair and took her in his arms her trouble was so great the crisis in her life so tragic i've tried to make myself believe i didn't care she went on whispering that everything should be as it was before you came i tried you poor child but in spite of you of myself in spite of everything my faith in you is just the same thank god for that we must find a way out but she shook her head no there's no way out i'm sure of that for me and you it's wrong all wrong but she did not refuse him her lips now and he held her close in his arms moira he whispered it was meant to be it's all wrong all wrong she replied she replied she replied she said it's all wrong all wrong she

repeated and then with a sigh its very sweetness is terrible he touched her brow tenderly with his lips and then gently released her do you want me to go but her fingers still held him no no not yet not just yet jim this is our moment yours and mine and i've been wanting you so you knew that i'd come back to you didn't you dear i've been been praying that you would you won't be going jim away as you said you would no dear not not if you need me not if you want me but i'm a nondescript now a deserter an outcast the cruelty of it you i got what i deserved he said with a smile and harry i can't be staying here if he's going to be here jim the very touch of his fingers the sight of him knowing what i do he won't dare i would have him broken and give yourself up to the military police no you can't be thinking of that i'm not afraid of him nor of my father but they can't be disgracing you you must keep in hiding i see it all now but you won't be going away jim promise me that you won't go away and you'll let me see you yes i must see you i can't let you go not yet jim i know it's wrong i don't care about the wrong to harry but i do think of the wrong i do myself and you my love for you has been so clean so beautiful jim it can't be anything else for either of us i love you moria dear i needn't tell you how don't you suppose that i know it already jim but it's so hopeless your marriage a joke it means nothing

a hideous joke but a marriage just the same you can't be tied to this man always i am tied to him oh jim she broke off in her despair don't be making it more difficult don't be pleading with me for that it's impossible i'd like to be going with you away somewhere just you and i but i can't i'll have patience some day no dear that's the worst of it it can't be ever i have sworn she stopped and they both listened moira started frightened from somewhere down the stairway outside came the sounds of a laugh and of voices in conversation harry she gasped and with quick presence of mine ran to the door turned the key in the lock and then listened my father too they mustn't find you here yes said jim coolly i think we'd better have this thing out here and now no no she whispered tensely it would be the end of all things not yet i must have time to think already there was a knock upon the door moira had caught jim by the arm and was hurrying him toward a closet in the corner of the room in here quickly she whispered you must my father will go in the other rooms but moira as you love me please she pleaded pushing him in shutting the door then breathless she turned and faced the door into the hallway end of chapter eleven chapter twelve of the splendid outcast by george gibbs this librovoc's recording is in the public domain recording by tony oliva

quinlevin speaks a moment longer she waited summoning calm and resolution when the knocking on the door began again and her name was called coming she replied looking around the studio keenly and then catching sight of jim horton's hat whisked it under the couch and then opened the door barry quinlevin came in harry carrying his bag with a gay laugh he caught moira into his arms well it's joyful i am to be back dusty and unwashed but none the less glad to be here how are you child by the amount of time you took open in the door i thought you might be dead i'm very tired she murmured i've not been up to the mark he held her off and looked at her in the dim light of the gas jet a little piqui hey too much mope in the dark let's have some lights and a drink of the irish twill do none of us a harm he moved into the studio and harry horton set the bag down did you have a successful trip asked moira putting more color into her voice than she felt so so said quinlevin a bottle moira and some glasses and water and when she had obeyed there the very sight of it's already making a new man of me harry boy your health moira said and listened while he described the incidents of his trip harry could not meet her look but she saw that he drank sparingly as for her father she watched him in silence aware of his flamboyant grace and charm again incredulous as to the things she knew of him but his letter to harry in her shirt waist seemed to be burning the fair skin of her breast

to remind her of his venality on his way to the bottle he pinched her pale cheeks between his long fingers where's your spirit girl you look as though you'd been hearing a banshee a fine husband you got an all to be putting lilies in your cheek instead of roses she stays in the studio too much put in harry uneasily a good jumper and a few stone walls of county galloway would set you right in a jiffy. We'll be taking you there. One day soon, I'm thinking, if you don't come to life, what is a child? Oh, nothing. I'm just tired. He took his glass and held it to the light with a critical air. Maybe it's better if you go to bed then. I'll just clean up a bit and then come back and have a talk with you, Harry boy. And finishing his glass, he took up his bag and went into his room to cleanse himself, leaving Moira alone with Harry. She was very uncomfortable and set wondering what ruse she could find to get rid of them.

Harry fumbled at his glass nervously. You're going to tell him, he asked. She shrugged. Of course, she said coolly. The farce has gone on long enough. Yes, he muttered. Perhaps you're right. I'll tell him, myself, tonight.

thanks she said quietly it would be better they seemed to have very little to say she saw harry furtively looking at her but she was oblivious of him for her thoughts were beyond him over his head in the paint closet where jim horton set uncomfortably awaiting the moment of release but how could she effect it now it seemed almost enough of luck to have hidden jim horton's hat before they had entered she knew that his predicament was hardly to his liking and in spite of her entreaties feared that any moment he might be opening the door and facing the situation and when berry quinlevin returned to the room in a moment his face shining with his vigorous ablutions any immediate hopes she may have had of jim's release were dashed to the ground you'd better be goin to your room child and get your beauty sleep he said i want to talk to harry that he wanted to be alone with her husband was evident and the request was something in the nature of a command still wondering what she had better do she got up and moved slowly toward the door into the kitchen they would talk she would watch at the door and listen very well she said languidly perhaps i'll feel better if i lie down for a while and went out of the room closing the door behind her but she did not go into her room all alive with uncertainty and apprehension she crouched by the door listening intently the keyhole was large through it she could see the closet upon the opposite side of the studio where jim was concealed and what they said

she could hear distinctly well harry boy said quinlevin here we are again and with norah close at hand ready for the coup there can't be any haggling or boggling now a clean million we'll get from it or my name's not b q did you have any trouble getting nora to come a little but five thousand pounds settles her business nora was always a bit of a rogue but she couldn't deny real genius and then a bit of blarney but the birth certificate here producing his pocket-case a little millied and rumpled from hiding in the mattresses and the like but still quite legible see patrice a little hard to read you see patricia it is patricia madeline olney de vautre female me boy born august seventh in the year of our lord eighteen ninety seven signed by the doctor dominique then you can and attested by the parish priest a little illegible in certain no potable places but all quite straight and proper he can't go back of that and the other servant who knew dead is a herring fortnight ago you'll admit most fortuitously for i can't keep the whole of county galway under my hat harry horton frowned no and you can't keep moira there either what do you mean merely that she'll put a spoke in your wheel if you're not careful quinlevin laughed i won't worry about that ridge until i come to it she won't object to taking her place in the world as the duchess de votran he broke off abruptly what's that did moira call i didn't hear anything i've got the fugits then i'd be having to give her up if monsieur the duke should take a fancy to her but you needn't fear he won't he's too self-centered and well out of it at a million francs ah he'll riddle and squirm a bit on the hook but he'll pay in the end or we'll gaff him for the whole estate he stopped and carefully cut the end from a cigar

do you think by any chance that piquette moran could have done any talking why do you ask because four months ago monsieur the duke was in ireland asking questions who told you this norah burke he got nothing from her she knew which side her bread was buttered on but that's what made her squeamish when my allowance stopped coming to her i see and you've paid her something yes and the devil's own time I had getting it together. I'm thinking I've squared accounts with you already in all this business. But Harry Horton had gotten up and poured himself out a stiff drink of the whiskey which he drained hurriedly. I don't like it, he muttered uneasily. What? This DeVotrant business. Quinlivan calmly stared at him. Your feet are getting cold now. Harry took a pace or two trying to find his words and then, things haven't. been going right here since since you left i see said quinlevin with a shrug you and more i haven't been

hitting it off no and it's worse than that barry quinlevin leaned forward his shaggy brows thatched unpleasantly what the devil are you talking about i've got to tell you you'd be obliging me if you would harry met the sharp look of the older man and then his gaze flickered and fell as he sank into his chair again you you've heard me speak of my twin brother jim he asked after a moment the railroad man you quarreled with over the trifling matter of an estate well what of him he's turned up here in paris what have you got to do with him more than you think i've got to tell you what a happened and it's plenty it's been h and repeat d him at least laughed the irishman he seems to gain no new place in your affection no nor will he in yours when you have the facts go on i'm listening and slowly halting here and there for a word or a phrase that would put a better construction on his own share in the affair he told quinlevin of the substitution of the substitution of the jim horton for himself and of the events that had followed including his return to paris and the desperate means he had taken to regain his own identity of moira he spoke nothing but as the situation was revealed with all its hazards to the success of their intrigue from an attitude of polite attention with which he had listened at first quinlevin became eagerly and anxiously absorbed interjecting question after

question while his iridescent eyes glowed under his frowning brows and his long bony fingers clutched his chair arm by degrees the full meaning of the revelation came to him its relation to harry's future to the matter of the duke to moira but as he grew more furious he grew more pale more calm and listened in a silence punctuated by brief questions to the conclusion of the story a little contemptuous of the nervousness of his companion reading below the thin veneer of braggadocio the meanings that the young man strove to conceal so he said coolly ye've gone and let us all in for a nice mess of braw shell shock and ye let a man be tearing the uniform off your very back when in your honors for ye he rose and stood at his full height looking down at the figure in the opposite chair and moira he asked he came here to this apartment when he left the hospital she did not guess nor you said harry with some spirit since you invited him here true for ye i did bad says to him he broke off and took a page toward the lay figure in the corner and back and then this is a bad business he said soberly and you don't know where he is at the present moment no he got away clean through a passage to the river you've no idea who helped him no and tricoe's no fool nor poachar but they lack imagination like yourself harry horton aroused himself

he was drugged i tell you to the limit i saw him before i came here to see moira he was clean out tricoes for dropping him into the river when we got him but i wouldn't let them do that no not that you are always lacking in a pinch harry but my brother my own brother quenlivan shrugged i can see your scruples a brother's a brother even if he does ween wienwitz your wife. Harry started up, his face livid at the cool, insulting tones. And you can't blame more, continued Quinlivan coolly, if he's turned out a better man than yourself. His fiery eyes burned in his pale face and challenged the other man, intimidated him until the hot words on Harry's tongue died unuttered. Fine miss, and is no baby this frolicsome brother of you. years how much does he know of the d'autran affair enough muttered harry sullenly from the letters and what you told him in the hospital he can't go far he broke off and then with a quick change into eager inquiry

he'd hardly have had time to find the duke and if he did no said harry sullenly de votran is in nice good then we'll have time for what to meet the situation as it should be met i intend to take a hand in this affair myself what can you do i'll find a way there's one thing sure i don't intend to have the ingenious plans of half a lifetime spoiled by any blundering haymaker from kansas city he's not my brother i won't have your scruples and if moira has learned to be fond of him so much the worse for her i asked her to marry you because i didn't want any strange young man to come poking about my affairs or hers she's a good girl too good for the likes of either of us she was never much after the men being wedded to her art and i thought you do as well as another that she'd make good over here and turn out the husband she deserved he paused to give his words more weight good you've made a mess of it to say nothin have fallen short with moira i might have known but it's too late now for me to be crying over my spilt milk or yours and whatever happens i'd like you to know my boy that this affair means too much to be balked for a mere sentiment if she doesn't love you that's your own affair and as for your brother jim all i say is let him look out for himself he had sunk into his chair again his lips compressed his eyes closed to narrow slits and his voice husky a moment ago with his passion enunciating his words with icy precision but how are you going to find him haven't i told you that he slipped away lost in paris and you know what that means how could he slip away drugged after being knocked out and unconscious

he leaned forward in his chair his white fist clenched on the table somebody helped him it's not possible why not how do you know you were all so frightened of the police that you took to your heels without a look around but nobody but pochard's crowd knew about the old passage to the river then somebody and poshard's crowd did the helping it can't be they're all in on it quinlevin shrugged perhaps but i'll be looking into that phase of the question myself go ahead i wish you luck but how is that going to help it'll find jim horton and that's the only matter i'm concerned about there was a pause and another voice broke the silence and when you find him what will you do about it in her place of concealment moira trembled at the sound for there was a harsh scraping of chairs as harry and quinlevin rose startled and faced Jim Horton, who had opened the door of the closet and stood revealed before them. Harry Horton drew back a pace, leaning on a chair, his face gray, then purple again. Quinlivan stared, one eye squinting, his face distorted in surprise and curiosity at the astonishing apparition.

So, he said, the skeleton in the closet. You'll find me far from that, said Jim Horton, striding forward. striding forward to within a few paces of them you thought i might be hard to find i'll save you that trouble i see said the irishman finding his composure and a smile so you're the interloper the comic tragedian of the piece all primed and set for trouble well i can't say that you'll be disappointed he reached deliberately for his trousers pocket and drew out a weapon but jim leaped for him at the same time that that Moira rushing into the room shrieked Quinlivan's name. The sound disconcerted him, and the shot went wild, and before he could shoot again, Jim Horton had caught his arm, and given his wrist a vicious twist, which wrenched the weapon away, and sent him hurling into a chair. Harry Horton hadn't moved. His feet seemed riveted to the floor.

Father! Moira gasped, her face white as paper. You mighta killed him! that was the exact intention said quinlevin making a wry face and nursing his wrist but jim horton frowning at the two men held the weapon in his hand in command of the situation why did you come out jim why moira pleaded wringing her fingers and staring from one to the other but jim horton didn't even hear her his gaze was fixed steadily on barry quinlevin who had shrugged himself back into self-possession and was smiling up at the intruder, as though in appreciation of an admirable joke. We better have this thing out, you and I, said Jim coolly, eliminating Harry from the discussion. By all means, said Quinlavin, and I'm glad you know a real enemy when you see one. You've hardly left any doubt about that. There's not much to say, except that you're not going to drag Moira into this dirty business with the Duke.

Do I make myself clear? perfectly but you'll hardly be less perspicuous if the muzzle of the revolvers twisted a bit to one side it's a hair trigger thanks as you were saying i won't waste words i gave harry his warning instead of heeding it he hired a pair of thugs to put me out of business but i'll take no chances for the future i'm in no mood to die just yet i like your nerve jim horton i may add it suffers no disadvantage in comparison to your twin brother he shrugged and folded his arms well you seem to have turned the odd tricks the ace of clubs the ace of hearts now what are you going to be doing with us all entirely i told harry what i do and i'll repeat it now drop this affair of the duke de votrins without dragging moira through the dirty mess and i quit leaving harry with his rank and honors and if i refuse jim horton shrugged carelessly i tell the truth that's all brevity is the soul of wit permit me to say that i admire the succinctness of your statement but the alternative is impossible you mean that you'll go on with this affair you've guessed it me son as sure as ever you find it convenient to remove the imminent and deadly weapon and yourself from my presence that's final quinlevin laughed and very coolly poured himself out a glass of whisky what's the use of quarlin by a bit of mistake by a bit of mistake

and heroics you've fired yourself into the midst of my little family's circle and exploded maybe you've done some damage but I'm an old bird and I don't scare so easily come now you wouldn't kill me out of hand you're not that kind and so let's be reasonable can I pour you drink no thanks as you please but you've got to admit that there are two sides to this question if the information in my possession is correct do you see you're a deserter from the army of the united states a word to the nearest private of the military police and you're jugged to do your explaining to a judge advocate you can't you won't do that moira seemed to find her speech with an effort for the rapidity of events and their portentous consequences to her own destiny had robbed her of all initiative but her courage came back with a rush as she faced this man who had deceived her all these years and charmed her even now with his reckless grace and magnetism

you won't do that she went on breathlessly i can't permit it i've heard all you said and i've been listening there ah you heard said quinlevin with a quick glance at her then perhaps it's just as well i would be having to tell you some day and then with quick decision you're not my daughter you're the child of the duke de votrand as he shot this bolt at her he watched its effect moira grew even paler and stared at him as though he were a person she had never seen before the daughter of the duke de votrins she stammered that's not true moira broke in jim's voice but you're not his daughter either i'll take my oath on it she glanced at jim as though the deep tones of his voice had steadied her for a moment not his daughter then who she paused and sought quinlevin's eyes uncertainly i've told you the truth my dear it was my crime not told you before but that's all ye can lay against me that and the love for ye that has made the confession difficult moira faltered but barry quinlevin's eyes were upon her alive it seemed with the old affection and across her brain flitted quick visions of their careless past their years of plenty their years of privation in which this man her father she had thought had always loomed the dominant figure reckless perhaps aloof at times but always kindly considerate but there was jim horton just beside her she felt his presence too the strength of him the honesty and the love of her that gave him the courage to face oblivion for her sake the silence was deathly and seemed to have gone on for hours jim did not speak there was harry too standing like a pale image the ghost of her happiness staring at her were they all dumb something seemed to be required of her

her and her instinct answered for her she moved toward Jim Horton her fingers seeking his I I love him she found herself saying I want you both to know it has all been a horrible mistake but it's too late to cry over it has just happened that's all I can never love anyone else moira whispered Jim but I know that that there's nothing to be done I only wanted you to know she finished firmly, that anyone who harms him harms me. Moira, Jim's voice broke in pleadingly at her ear. Come away with me, now. You can't stay here. The situation is impossible. She felt Barry Quinlivan's eyes before he spoke. I don't need to remind you, Moira, of your vows at

the altar. What vows broke in Jim fiercely facing his brother? A travesty, a cruel hoax. There's no law that will keep it binding. She married me with her eyes open, muttered Harry, and unless I release her, stop, for God's sake, Moira's voice found itself in pity for her own humiliation. There's no release, no hope for either of us. There's no divorce, except death. I asked nothing of you, Moira. Jim was pleading again, only to go with me, away from here, tonight for your own self-respect an outcast sneered quinlevin he saw how the game was going but he went too far she turned on him defiantly an outcast she said i would be proud to be facing the world alone with such an outcast as jim hart and the shame and the glory of following blindly where my heart was leading me come then said jim no don't you see i can't what harry says is true a man with my eyes open i swore to a lie and i've got to abide by that lie i've got to jim for god's sake have pity she sank helplessly into a chair relinquishing his hand all hope all life it seemed had gone out of her

jim horton stood regarding her for a moment and then silently walked to the door when he heard her voice again jim she cried despairingly he turned in the doorway and their glances met for a moment will you come, Moira, he asked quietly. A can't, Jim? A can't. He waited a moment, and then laying Quinlivan's weapon on the table in front of him, turned again and walked out of the door and into the darkness of the corridor. End of Chapter 12. Chapter 13 of the Splendidid Outcast by George Gibbs. This Librevox recording is in the public domain, recording by Tony Oliva. beginning a journey it would have been easy for quinlevin to have shot him in the back and at the moment jim horton wouldn't much have cared if he had he went down the stair slowly across the court and out into the street wandering aimlessly bareheaded with no sense of any intention or direction there's no divorce but death moira's words words rang again and again in his brain. That was a part of her creed, her faith, her religion.

She had once spoken of what her church had always meant to her, her mother, she had called it, and she was true to her convictions. There's no divorce but death. The revelation of her beliefs was not new to him, yet it came to him with a sense of shock that she had chosen at the last to remain with harry and quinlevin and all the degradation that the association meant to her it had been a choice between two degradations and force of habit had cast the last feather into the balance in the bitterness of his own situation isolated outcast with no hope of regeneration he tried to find it in his heart to blame her but the thought of the pain and bewilderment he had seen in her eyes made him only pitiful for her misfortunes. It seemed as though the shock of the many revelations of the evening had deadened her initiative, enfeebled her fine impulses, and made her like a dependent child, at the mercy of custom and tradition, and he could not forget that he had gone to her asking nothing, expecting nothing,

and that in spite of all the barriers that she recognized between them, in spite of the deception he had practiced, she had still clung to him and even acknowledged him in the presence of her husband and the man she called her father. Love had glowed in her eyes and in her heart, lifting her for a time above the tragic mystery of her origin and the broken ideals of a lifetime. it was almost enough for him to ask of her it didn't seem to matter much now what happened to him but almost unconsciously he found himself casting an occasional glance over his shoulder to see if he was followed

he had no fear of harry his brother had shown to-night in his true colors but the picturesque scoundrel whose name moira bore was clearly a person to be reckoned with. Why Quinlavin hadn't taken a pot-shot at him on the stairs was more than Jim Horton could understand unless some consideration for Moira had held his hand. The impulse of fury that had made him draw his revolver had faded, but their controversy was still unsettled, and Jim Horton knew that the one duty left him must be done at once. After he had told what he knew to de Votrain, Quinlavin could try to kill him, if he liked, but not before. Would the memories of the past prevail in Moira's relations with Quinloven? Would he be able to convince her that she was the Duke's daughter?

He remembered that most of what he had heard from his place of concealment could be susceptible of a double interpretation under the skillful manipulation of the resourceful Irishman. Jim Horton knew that Piquette had told him the straight story from Harry's own lips, but he could not violate her confidence by using her name. It meant danger for Piquette from Quinlivan and perhaps a revelation of her breach of Poshar's confidence and a greater danger even from Tricot. He knew that he must move alone and reach the ear of de Votrand at once with his testimony he approached the cafe of leon jave when he heard the light patter of feet behind him and stopped and turned it was piquette divested of her fine raiment and dressed in the simple garb of a midinette jim she said i have been waiting for you outside oh piquette you must not go in javs come mon ami to the other side of the street

why piquette he asked curiously because trico and le sange are looking for you and they will watch javas hmm who told you this but he let her take him by the elbow to the darkness opposite poachar the house in the riocharon is watched by the police they are afraid you will give the evidence they needn't worry just now he muttered i've something else to do but you must keep away from the cartier i expect to i'm going away piquette shim where to nice i've got to see your friend de votrins at once ah de vaughtrains she walked along with him for a moment in silence where is your at my friend my friend he ran his fingers through his hair aware for the first time of his loss i left it in the rue de tavern yes ah you must tell me come to the boulevard clichy it is safer i've taken a lodging in the rue jean paul no she insisted you must take no more chances down this side of the river just now nor must i you mean that they suspect not yet but they will if they see us you and i you can't run that chance picket we are quite safe in the boulevard clichy come and so so he yielded to her persuasions and followed her by a roundabout way across the pont caroussay and so toward their destination while he told her in general terms of the events of the evening she listened putting in an exclamation or a brief question here and there but made no comments until they reached her apartment where she made him comfortable in her best chair gave him a cigarette and getting out of her street dress slipped into her dressing

gown. To the western mind, unused to the casual ways of the atelier, this informality might have seemed indecorous, but Jim Horton was deeply absorbed in his own thoughts, and for the moment did not think of her. And when she drew her robe around her and took up a cigarette, she seemed for the first time to be aware of his abstraction. To Piquette's mind, those things which were natural to her must be natural to everyone else and this after all is only the simple philosophy of the child as she curled herself up on her chaise long and lighted her cigarette he smiled at her well jim she said what you think of m can l'levin she pronounced it ken levin he's just about the smoothest proposition that ever happened he he replied he'd have gotten me if i hadn't moved in close an arry he did nothing no just stood there he's lost his nerve again he won't bother me but the irish man is in this game for keeps

he is dangerous mon ami you i'd better not go on with this affair yes piquet i must he said quietly i got into the situation by being a moral coward i'm not going to get out of it by being a physical one besides i've promised who myself it's a duty i owe he paused to madame morton and what thanks do you get she shrugged expressively a bullet or a knife in the ribs perhaps you have already almost enough been shot and beaten mon vieu and yet here i am quite comfortable in your best chair and none the worse thanks to you piquette but you cannot always be so lucky i would be very unhappy if you were killed mon jim would you piquette he said taking her hand impulsively and kissing it gently and then it is too late to be unhappy she sighed and put her other hand over his oh mon jim life is so short so sweet it is not right to take a chance of dying before one's time i don't want to die just yet and i don't expect to but life doesn't mean a whole lot to me it's too complex you understand difficile he gave a sigh and so sank back in his chair relinquishing her fingers i guess i was meant for the simple life he said with his slow smile she was silent for a moment regarding him soberly what has happened mon ami she has let you go he paused frowning at the ash of his cigarette what else could she do he asked quietly i asked nothing expected nothing of her

then you cannot be disappointed said picket dryly she is not worth the trouble you run a risk of being killed to save her from her husband who is a vourienne you offer her the best you have and she send you away alone into the darkness you think she loves you sa per lot what she knows of love if i love a man i would go with him to the end of the world no matter what he is he set watching her as she spoke listening to the clear tones of her voice watching the changes in her expressive features i believe you would be kept he muttered and you she went on shrilly you who have saved her husband from disgrace you who win in de quad and then go into the darkness an outcast she let you go she let you go sh he broke in she had to i understand she is a catholic she paused and then went on why has she marry your brother if she does not love him la she stopped and shrugged her pretty shoulders perhaps you understand now monty jim why i have not married not unless i love and then her voice sank into a tense whisper and then until death i would be true yes piquette you are that sort but this he glanced about the room she shrugged as she caught as she caught his meaning monsieur as much money why should i not be content as well as someone is deep in his heart he was sorry for her but he could see that she was not in the least sorry for herself and the unconventionality of her views the total lack of moral sense seems somehow less important than the rugged sincerity of her point of view and the steadfastnesses

of her friendship and you have never loved well enough to marry he asked no mon jim she said gently their glances met his level and friendly and it was her look that first turned away no mon jim she repeated slowly one does not meet such a man until it is too late she gave a sharp little gasp and set facing him and i speak of my troubles when you have greater ones of your own i want to help you mon ami you have in your mind a duty to do with m de duke de vaultrins you have made me think perhaps it is my duty too i've got to see him at once before quinlevin does eh bien he is on de riviera nice we shall find him we perfectly perhaps i can make it easier for you to see him you'll go with me why not unless you do not want me of course i'll be only too happy only what monte it seems a great deal to ask you've already done so much no she said with a smile it will perhaps be safer for both of us away from paris and you are unhappy will i perhaps not cheer you up a little there's no doubt of that i will like to go with you it will give me pleasure if you do not mind but monsieur the duke i no me fish pa besides shall i not now be doing him a service yes that's true he stopped as a thought came to him the duke suspects something what made him go to ireland and question nora burke perhaps i talk a little too much that night has he spoken of it since yes but i told him nothing i did not wish to get harry in trouble but now she shrugged and lighted a fresh cigarette

i do not care what happened to harry or monsieur king levin it is only what happens to you that matters mon jim but in befriending me you've made enemies of all that crowd not unless they find out it is you who are in danger after what you have heard to-night you are more dangerous to queen levin than ever i gave him his chance he didn't take it but he'll make another chance you don't know that man even trico is afraid of him well i'm not he thinks the world owes him a living but he wouldn't last half an hour out in the country where i come from he's clever enough to put it over moira all these years yes m'jim and he may put it over steel now that you go from there perhaps he muttered with a frown but that doesn't matter. She's not DeVotran's daughter, or his. I'd take an oath on it. I've got to clear her skirts of this dirty mess. She wouldn't come. They've got her there now, a prisoner. She can't help herself. I can't be losing any time. He rose suddenly as though aware of the passage of time and took a few paces away from her. Not tonight, said Biquette. The first train.

I've got to go and find out. She glanced. at the small enameled clock upon the mantle it is too late there would be no fast express until the morning very well i'll see and he strode toward the door at the hotel gravelot at the corner you will find out but wait she had sprung up and running out of the apartment returned in a moment with a soft hat which she gave him thanks bickett you're my good angel i do seem to need you don't i i hope you do mon vieu she said quietly and then go and hurry back i will wait for you thus it was that the next day found jim horton and piquette together in a compartment of the marseilles express on their way to the riviera jem had managed to get reservations in a train which was now running regularly and then after advising pickett had returned to his lodgings in the rue jean paul to meet her at the guard de lyon at noon piquette seemed to have thought of everything that he had forgotten and greeted him with an air of gaiety which did much to restore his drooping spirits it was very cosy very comfortable in their compartment adieu and piquette looked upon the excursion from the angle of the child ready and willing to take a new pleasure in anything curiously enough she had travelled little only once to the cot d'azir and looked forward with delight to the southern sunshine the blue of the sea and the glimpse of the world of fashion which was once more to be seen upon the promenade des anglis

the passing landscape she greeted with little childish cries as she recognized familiar scenes the upper reaches of the seine jivizi and then arpajon etamp and orleans and jim horton set watching her detached by her magnetism from the gloom of his thoughts aware of the quality of her devotion to this newly-found friend for whom with joyous carelessness she was risking the good-will of her patron the displeasure of her bloodthirsty friends of earlier days and even though perhaps her very life she was a new event in his experience giving him a different meaning for many things there had been no new passages of anything approaching sentiment between them and he watched her curiously it seemed that what she wished him to understand was that she was merely a good friend that he could tie to and be understood by even when he took her hand in his a natural impulse on jim's part when it lay for a moment beside him she only let it rest there a moment and then gave a careless gesture or made a swift useful motion which dispelled illusions and exorcised sentiment and yet of sentiment of another sort she was full fairly bubbling over with sympathy and encouragement inviting him to share her enjoyment of the gray and brown pastoral from the car window peaceful beautiful and untouched by the rough hand of war it was a kind of friendship he couldn't understand and wouldn't have understood perhaps even if he had been skilled in the knowledge of

women and yet there it was very real very vital to him in all its beauty and self-effacement whatever her past her strange philosophy of life her unique code of morals he had to admit to himself that she was a fine young animal feminine to the last glossy hair of her head and compact of splendid forces which had been diverted of virtues which refused to be stifled by the mere accident of environment but most of all was she that product of the latin quarter which knows and shares poverty and affluence friendship and enmity the gamine the bon she thought nothing of her exploit in rescuing him from the house in the rich charon nor would she permit a repetition of his admiration and gratitude the impulse that had driven her to the rescue was spontaneous he was once she knew an american soldier a friend of france in trouble was not that enough as the day wore on piquette grew tired looking at the scenery and after yawning once or twice laid her head quite frankly upon his shoulder with all the grace of a tired child and immediately went to sleep jem horton smiled down at her with a new sense of pride in this strange friendship admiring the fine level brows the shadows on her eyelids slightly tinted with blue the well-turned nose the scarlet curve of her under lip and the firm line of her jaw and chin two outcasts they were he and she strangely met and more strangely linked in the common purpose of protecting the

destinies of a decadent french gentleman whom jim horton had never seen and in whom he had no interest and piquette what was her motive her loyalty to de vaughtron unlike that which she had shown for him was spasmodic actuated by no affection but only by the humor of the moment she did not love this man he had never been to her anything more than a a convenience he smiled the word suggested a thought to him convenience was this relation of piquette to her patron any worse than those marriages of the ambitious girls of his own country without love often without hope of love to bring themselves up in the world biquette at least was honest with the patron and with herself. The vows at the altar were sacred. He knew how sacred now. He had not dared to think of Moira, and he knew that it was well that Piquet had kept his thoughts from her. But now, as his companion slept, his arm around her slim figure, he began to think of Moira and the tragic

decision that he had given her to make. She had chosen to remain there. She had chosen to remain there. in the rue de tavern because that was the only home she knew and in the agony of her mind she felt that she must find sanctuary in her own room with her thoughts and her prayers and the love she bore him he knew was not a mere passing fancy born of their strange romance but a living flame of pure passion which could only be dimmed by her duty to her conscience but not extinguished. Piquette stirred slightly in her sleep and spoke his name. Mugin, she muttered and then settled herself more comfortably against his shoulder. Jim Horton did not move for fear of awakening her, but his gaze passed over her, relaxed features and a generous wave of gratitude swept over him for all that she had done for him. What a trump she was!

what a loyal little soul to help him with no hope of reward but the same kind of loyalty she had given him he must not fail her if there were only some way in which he could help her to happiness in sleep she was so gentle so childlike so confiding thinking of all that he owed her he bent over and kissed her gently on the brow she did not waken and jim horton raised his head then suddenly as if in response to an impulse looked at the small uncurtained window that led out upon the corridor of the carriage there two dark eyes stared at him as though fascinated from a pallid face the wider for its frame of dusky hair the face of moira quinlevin he thought for a moment that the vision was a part of his obsession and for a second did not move and then started forward awakening piquette for being behind the face in the obscurity of the corridor he made out another head and the iridescent eyes of barry quinlevin and of chapter thirteen chapter fourteen of the splendid outcast by george gibbs this lebervok's recording is in the public domain recording by tony oliva a night attack and even as he looked the faces were merged into the obscurity and vanished. Biquette clung to his arm, whispering. I had such a dreadful dream. Why, Jim? What is it? He started to his feet. Barry Quinlivan. There, he gasped, with her! Her clutch on his arm tightened. Here, impossible. I saw them.

You dreamed, like me. I can't believe. They were there a moment ago. Let me go piquette no she gasped in a frightened whisper you must not follow i've got to to explain he muttered but she only clutched his arm the more firmly and he could not shake her off for she held him with the strength of desperation not now mongime she pleaded i i am frightened he glanced at her quickly and it seemed as if this were so for her face had gone so white that the rouge upon her lips looked like the blood upon an open wound it is just what he want m'gim for you to go after him what do you mean it would give him the excuse he want to shoot you nonsense defends person he knows the law he will kill you i'm not afraid i've got to go picket no you sell not and leave me here alone there's nothing to be frightened about on a train full of people he managed to reach the door with piquette clinging to him and peered out into the corridor a guard was approaching oh et s'est monsieur and dame he stammered olendorf fashion and then his french failed him and he floundered helplessly pleading with piquette to finish what he wished to say but the man understood rattled off a rapid sentence and disappeared it is that they have gone into another carriage she translated you see it will be impossible to find him no he muttered but he knew that the delay had cost him his opportunity

you must not leave me mon petit pickett pleaded at his ear i have fear of him he has seen us together now he knows that it is i who have told about monsieur le duke i who have helped you from the house in the rich charon everything i have fear jim laid a hand over hers and patted it reassuringly don't worry he can't harm you i'm not afraid when you are here she whispered and she won her way it was the least that he could do for her so he sat again thinking of of the look in moira's eyes and frowning out of the window wondering how best to meet this situation while piquette clung to his arm and patted his hand nervously we should have watched for him m'gim at the gar de leon i don't understand nor i how he got her to come with him muttered jim fiercely have i not told you he is a man extraordinary a man to be watch to be fear how did he get her to come jim repeated as though to himself how did he there seemed no necessity to find a reply to that for there she was in the next carriage perhaps with this shrewd rascal whose power and resource seemed hourly to grow in importance it was difficult to believe that moira had listened to winlavin had believed the story he had chosen to tell her directly after the convincing proof of his villainy directly after jim horton's own plea to save her what art what witchcraft had he employed the answer came in a shrewd guess of

this was the fierce fast expressed to the mediterranean she said he knew you would go to m de votrins last night he found out i will go with you but how who knows she shrugged uneasily he turned with a frown and examined piquette with quick suspicion but her gaze met his frankly the thought that had sped through his mind was discreditable to her and to him for thinking it there was no possibility of her collusion with quinlevin her fear of him was too genuine he arranged things nicely to show her me with you perfectly it is that only which made her come mon petit smooth muttered jim and she saw me all right he finished bitterly begette was silent for a while she's very handsome she said at last and then and she found me asleep with my head on your shoulder yes muttered jim she did at the moment he could not think how much his words wounded her i am sorry monti she said gently his conscience smote him at the tone of contrition oh it does doesn't matter of course he said there was no hope for me none but it complicates things a little yes i comprehend monsieur hopes to keep you from reaching the duke he won't succeed but i'd rather he hadn't seen me in the train or madame jem horton made no reply and was at once enrapped in his thoughts which as piquette could see excluded her and after a glance at his face she too was silent the train stopping here and there rushed on through the darkness for hours it seemed to picket and her companion still set staring at the blank wall before him absorbed in his problem

he seemed to have forgotten her and at last she could bear the silence no longer mon povre jim you love erso much is dat she asked he started he started at the sound of her voice and then turned and laid his hand over hers i'm a fool bickette he muttered oh s'lse she shrugged then she turned her palm up and clasped his i am very sorry mon ami the touch of her hand soothed him in spite of the danger that she now ran only half suggested by what she had said she could still find words to comfort his him selfish brute that he was not to think of her piquette i've gotten you into trouble no i got myself into it he made no reply and set frowning the train had stopped again by contrast with the roar to which their ears had become accustomed the silence was eloquent as though their train had stopped breathless upon the edge of an abyss then small sounds emerged from the silence a complaining voice from an adjoining compartment the buzzing of an insect a distant hissing of steam then suddenly the night was split with a crash of sound and glass from the window was sprinkled over them another crash and before bickett had realized what was happening jim had seized her bodily and thrown her to the floor of their compartment and was crouching over her while the missiles from outside fired rapidly were buried in the woodwork above the place where they had set six shots and then a commotion of voices here there everywhere and the sound of feet running inside the train and out

lucky i pulled that blind said jim as he straightened glancing at the bullet holes can levin gasped bickette as she rose to a sitting posture jim horton got up and opened the door just as the guards came running with excited inquiries and seeing piquette upon the floor madame has been shot but piquette immediately reassured them by getting up frightened but quite unhurt by the window the shots came she explained quickly in french while jim exhibited the damage paneling someone outside has fired at us they understood and were off again out into the darkness where there was much running about with lanterns and many cries of excitement while the other passengers crowded into the compartment and examined the bullet-holes is it a bush asked an excited mondayne of her companion de voyage not unlikely replied the other but jem horton knew better consideration for moira's position had kept him silent and inactive until the present moment but he was angry now at quinlevin's dastardly attempt at the murder of either or both of them so nearly successful and so when the officials of the train led by a fussy stout black-bearded individual in buttons returned to question him he answered freely his replies quickly translated by piquette describing a monsieur with a moustache and imperial echoed the stout official taking notes rapidly on a pad and mademoiselle had dark hair and blue eyes

they were of the party of four in the second carriage broke in the guard whom jim had questioned earlier in the day it is impossible monsieur they left the train at st etienne a party of four questioned piquette astonished yes madam the two you mentioned besides another man and an older woman what did the other two look like asked Jim thinking of Harry the old woman had reddish hair streaked with gray the man was small with a hooked nose and the man with a hooked nose did he leave that scent at the end too asked Jim now that you mention it said the guard scratching his head I think I saw him a while ago at the rear of the train Jim Horton scowled find the man with the hooked nose monsieur he muttered but the fussy official was now shrugging and gesticulating wildly it was impossible to do anything more it was like hunting for a needle in a hay-mow his train was already an hour late the search would be taken up in the village where they had stopped but nothing could be done for the present the train would be thoroughly searched and then they must go on in the meanwhile perhaps it would be better for monsieur and madame

to change to a vacant compartment. Jim Horton protested, but to no avail. And after another wait, during which there were more waving of lanterns outside and more shouts, the train went on upon its way. He had to confess himself astonished at the desperate measures his enemies had taken to prevent his revelations. Who was the small man with the hooked nose. It wasn't hairy, who was tall and whose nose was straight. But when they were seated in the new place provided for them, a thought came to Jim, and when the guard came around again, he questioned, was there anything especially noticeable about the small man with a hooked nose? asked Jim. I don't comprehend, monsieur. Did you notice anything curious in the way he walked, for instance?

No. Yes. Now that you mention it, I think. he walked with a slight limp piquette and jim exchanged quick glances tricoe gasped piquette you're sure he is nowhere on the train positive monsieur we have searched everywhere it was with a feeling of some security therefore that jim settled himself again and tried to make piquette comfortable for the remainder of the journey neither of them felt like sleeping now and they talked eagerly of the extraordinary happening there seemed no reason to doubt that their assailant was tricoe and that the clever brain of quinlevin had planned the whole affair there was no doubt either that quinlevin had told the apache of pickett's part in the affair of the rich charon and that the shots were intended as much for piquette as for him this was the danger in the path of those who betrayed the secrets of the underworld but piquette having recovered from her fright was now again quite composed it's very clear why monsieur quin levin left the train at st etienne with madame he was afraid she would make trouble yes mon jim also he thought trico would have success she caught his hand and held it a moment he would have kill me if you hadn't push me on the floor pretty clever sizing us up like that then letting triton co-do his dirty work he didn't think i'd see him but we know what we're up against now and they'll waste no time in following i've got to get a gun somewhere that's sure and you've got to stop at marseilles at marseilles he nodded i'm not going to let you run your head any further into this noose you see what the danger is but piquette only smiled i knew what the danger was when i offered to come mon ami i'm not going to stay at my Marseilles. I'm going with you, as I promise. But Piquette, she put her fingers over his lips. You do not know my great force of mind. And besides, she said, they cannot catch us now.

I can't have you running any more risks, he muttered. I shall run the risk you run, Mung Jim. He smiled at her gently. There was something animal-like in her devotion. In the dusk of the soft illumination from above, the shadows at her. her eyes and lips seemed more than ever wistful and pathetic why do you dare all this for me picket why should i not tell you she said gently it makes no difference to you but i think i should like you to know it is because i love you mon jim piquette it's true mon ami it has never happened to me before that's why i know no it is not necessary for you to make belief voila you can hold my hand so but i want you to know it was from de first at javes how else should i have care enough to find you in the richard how else would i care enough to find out the difference between you and harry she took a long breath before she went on it did not take me long long i assure you for you mon ami with the man i was to love and harry she paused painfully harry was just a mistake i am

i'm not what you think i am picket he broke in awkwardly let me finish mon ami she said with a wave of the hand confession is good for the soul they say i want you to know about me i am only what the bon dieu make me a a gamine if he wish me to be fear on it he would not make a gamim se la destine don't be kept i know most men are si bette always the same they talk of love poof i know tojure la chere but you mon ami she held her breath and then gasped gently you touch me gently with respect like i was a queen you kiss me on the brows like i was a fee bonnet mon dieu what would you is it nothing to be cared for by a man clean like that i do care he said impulsively yes and like that i'd give anything to make you happy she gently disengaged his arm from about her waist don't care for me like that like you say you care she said gently it is what i wish all i wish mon petit jim he touched her hand with his lips but there seemed nothing to say say bien whispered picket with a smile i think you have taught me something mon jim as you have taught me he blurted out but i won't lie to you piquette that is as it must be and now we understand each other i am very content

jim horton from embarrassment at the astonishing confession began to understand its motive and set silent piquette's hand in his aware of the bond of sympathy between them it's a queer world piquette he said at last with a dry laugh i care for somebody i can't have you care for me why god knows i've made a fine mess of things and will probably go on making a mess of things her life mine yours when you and i might have hit it off from the beginning no mon jim you were not for me bickette she caught his hand in both of her own and with one of her swift transitions from the womanly to the childlike she pleaded and now you will not hide me away in marseilles he smiled at her earnestness and it wasn't in his heart any longer to refuse her no piquette you shall go and impulsively with the innocence that was a part of her charm she kissed him fair upon the lips ah mon jill you are very good to me but at marseilles he armed himself with a new automatic and with the weapon in his pocket felt a reasonable sense of security at least until they reached their destination picket was resourceful and on the train to nice found the answer to the problem that neither of them had been able to solve the old woman with the gray hair she said with an air of conviction after a long period of silence it is norah burke right george cried jim awakening i believe you're right piquette nora burke and he's bringing her along to clinch the thing down here at nice she nodded

but we shall reach m le duc first mon jim delays awaited them when they reached the hotel negresco piquette was provided with the name which m le duc deucs chose to use when traveling upon inquiry of the polite gentleman who presided over the destinies of the guests of this newest addition to the luxuries of the promenade des anglis they were informed that monsieur and madame tibault had gone upon a motor journey along the cornice road at the information piquette laughed outright and the polite frenchman frowned is there anything so extraordinary in a motor-trip with madame he asked frigidly no nothing monsieur she replied and laughed again but jim horton understood monsieur the duke was relieved piquet of a great moral responsibility they were shone adjoining rooms where they removed the traces of their journey and then met for dinner when they held a consultation as to their future plans if monsieur the duke had gone on a motor trip he might be back that night or he might be away for a week they found that monsieur and madame had taken only a suitcase and the chances were that they would return to the negresco by the morrow but time was precious and it would not be long before quinloven and his queerly assorted company would be arriving in nice ready in some nefarious way to interfere with their plans and so after dinner they took the train for monte carlo hoping that de vaotrins's weakness for gaming would have led him to that earthly paradise of loveliness and iniquity.

It was late when they reached there, but Piquette had made no mistake, for they found their man at the tables, so deeply engrossed that he did not notice their approach or even look up when Piquet, ignoring the wonderfully accouted lady at his side, addressed him in her most melifluous tones. Jim Horton took him in with a quick glance,

of appraisal a man still in his fifties about the age of barry quinlevin but smaller with a thin nose sharp black eyes a bald head and a dyed mustache waxed to long points and the hands upon the green bays of the table wore large rings one set with a ruby the other with an emerald that he was losing some money was indicated by the pucker of his bushy eyes eyebrows and the nervous tapping of his jewelled fingers upon the cloth it was not until piquette had spoken his christian name several times that he seemed to hear and then looked up his face a cloud of impatience and ill-temper it is i olivier she repeated piquette you madame he said with a glance at his companion yes monsieur said piquet coolly and it seems that I brought you luck for at that moment a pile of gold and bank notes was swept in his direction ah perhaps he said confusedly and then but it isn't possible I was told that you were coming I can't see you or this monsieur who comes with you go away if you please his attitude was uncompromising his announcement bewildering but piquette was undismayed the red monsieur she said calmly, and before he could prevent, shoved a pile of the gold coins upon the color, and the

duke, aghast at her impudence, set for a moment scowling at his pile of money, the gambler in him arrested by the fascinating click of the little ball. Red winds, announced Pickett, echoing the coupier. You see, monsieur, it will be wise for you to treat me with more politeness. and as he still sat as though fascinated by the turn of his fortune and made no motion to prevent her she put all the money she had won for him on the black black won and piquette laughed gaily while the woman beside de vaughtran sat in silence it does not do to venture here with strange goddesses she glanced rather scornfully at the duke's companion and straightened again madame muttered de botran the wheel runs for you i have finished said picket firmly it is enough no growled the duke thrusting his winnings again upon the black you will lose said picket calmly watching the leaping of the little ball hit did all that she had won for him he tried again lost more then turned on her with a frown sacri he began sh she silenced alon i did not come to interfere with your games but if madame tibaut will permit us

and she smiled with diabolical irony at de vaughtran's companion i would like to have a word with you at once i will not listen to your him he scowled at Jim I know what it's all about I don't wish to see you are you mad no then what do you mean by this I have come to save you from a great financial disaster you he sputtered what are you doing here with this man it is infamous I want no more of you go no Olivier I stay she said quietly you will kindly compose yourself and tell me who has been sending you lying telegrams. Ah, a friend in Paris. Ah, what did he say? What does he matter to you what he said? gasped to Botran. You are in love with this monsieur. And bien, go to him. I don't care. I'm through with you. Ah, no, you're not Olivier, said

Piquette smiling calmly. Not until I'm through with you. And then soberly. Don't be a fool. Your petit blue was sent by Mr. sir quinlevin he has the best of reasons for not wanting you to see us will you listen to me now quinlevin's name had startled him what do you mean he sputtered end of chapter fourteen chapter fifteen of the splendid outcast by george gibbs this librovoc's recording is in the public domain recording by tony oliva green eyes for a moment after jim horton's departure moira set in her arm-chair her head buried in her arms more than half stupefied one horrible revelation had followed another with such rapidity that she was aghast at the complete disruption of all the ties that had made her life and this last tie the strongest and the weakest of all that-the-weakest of all that too had been broken as relentlessly as the others she straightened slowly her face haggard with her suffering but she did not move from her chair and her fingers clutched its arms fiercely her eyes staring blankly past were following jim out into the darkness of the rue de tavenne but her finger still clung to the chair-arms and her body did not move it seemed that her limbs refused to obey her will to follow

then after a moment she sank down again crushed bruised and nerveless she felt the touch of quinlevin's hand upon her shoulder and his voice whispering at her ear there a kushla i'll be explaining it all to you in the morning go to your room now child and rest she obeyed him silently mechanically not replying or looking at him or at harry her throat like her eyes was dry and parched as though with fever but her hands like her heart were ice cold in the sanctuary of her own room with the doors closed she threw herself headlong upon the bed, racked for a while by shuddering soundless sobs, and then after a while merciful tears came. Jim, she whispered hopelessly into the darkness. Jim, forgive me. Her fingers groped for her crucifix and clung to it, seeking strength and courage.

And after a long while, the spasm of weeping stopped, and she lay motionless and soundless, scarcely breathing she knew in her heart that what she had done was best for jim's souls good and her own but her heart cried out against the cruelty of it and yet she was sure that if she had followed him beyond the studio door she would have gone out with him into the world glorying in her shame she had chosen her one brief gorgeous pitiful roman was over and what was there left for her here at the studio but the shattered fragments of ruined affections she had lived a lie was living it now like her father she started up at the horror that she had forgotten and set on the edge of the bed trying to collect her thoughts then she rose with an effort groped for the matches and lighted her candle her father by his own her father no longer who was she then a waif the daughter of de vaughtrains her mirror sent her back a haggard reflection pale and sombre but with blue-black eyes that gaze steadily from their swollen lids strength she had prayed for and courage to do what was right to do and she needed them both now illustration the mirror sent her back a haggard pale and sombre there was no sound from the studio she glanced at her clock for hours it seemed she had lain upon her bed of pain with a new resolution she bathed her face and wrists in cold water then went through the kitchenette into the studio to find barry quinlevin he was not there but her husband was crouched in the arm-chair by the table and the whiskey bottle was empty she shuddered a little but approached him resolutely he tried to rise but with a dull laugh and fumbling the arm of the chair fell sideways into a grotesque attitude

where is she began and halted gone out he mumbled struggling into a straighter posture back soon where has he gone he shook his head donald asked me to stay take care of you my dear she turned away from him in disgust oh don't worry he went on not goin bother you after to-morrow won't see me you know she turned quickly and he laughed again go join my regiment furlough up to-morrow she whispered thank god below her breath as she stood looking at him and then aloud gently, in a new kind of pity for him. You'd better lie down, Harry, and get some sleep, she said, or you be in no condition to go on duty. Thanks, ought to sleep. I've slept for weeks, seems to me.

Don't seem to care, though. You'd better. There's a room outside. Your baggage is there, too. That's nice of you, Mora, returning good for evil. Baggage. He brought it, didn't he? Yes, Harry.

He paused a moment and then leaned forward in his chair while she watched him curiously. Rotten mess, what? He mumbled. She didn't reply. And he went on, concentrating thought with difficulty. He told you I tried kill him, didn't he? He wagged his head comically.

I couldn't do that. Not kill him, wouldn't do. You know, my own brother. No, not that. He put his hands to his eyes a moment and swayed, but Moira steadied him by the shoulder. Harry, come, I'll help you. You must go to bed.

Not yet. In a minute. Something say. He groped for her hand on his shoulder, found and clung to it. Shame, I'm such rotter. Moira, beastly shame. I'm not half bad sort if.

Leave me a little. bone i was sick out there head of levinski grinned at me gold tooth grinned at me in wheatfield come harry she broke in again lean on me i'll help you to bed i was sick all right he shuddered oblivious of her makes me sick now think of it just a head moira nuffin else but god what a head it won't do you any good now to think about that she put in quickly for he was shivering as though with a chill no no good now off rhodder ain't i come he stumbled to his feet and she helped him to support himself will you forgive me moira of course and as she urged him out of the door toward the vacant room knew you would he mumbled and then go moira in the room she helped him off with his coat puddies and shoes and then pulling a blanket over him left him to his own devices and went back to the studio to wait for barry but she wasn't weary now from the same reserve force from which she drew the strength to stand for hours and paint even when her sitters were weary she gained new courage and resolution for the return of quinlevin but for a moment she was tempted again the way was clear what was to prevent her from going and finding jim for a moment only then she sank into the chair by the fireplace to fight her battle with herself and wait her glance restlessly passed from one familiar object to another

the portrait on the easel the lay figure in the corner in its fantastic pose and heterogeneous costume the draperies for her backgrounds hanging just as they had hung this afternoon and yet all so strangely changed the door of the closet where jim had been hidden remained open exhibiting its untidy interior instinctively she rose and closed it her sense of order triumphant even over her mental sufferings then she went back and set down to think there was much that she and her that she and barry quinlevin would have to say to each other he came at last expecting to find harry and not the straight figure of the woman who faced him like a pale fury the shadows of pain at her eyes were gone lost in deeper shadows of anger and determination you moira he said in surprise yes I where's Harry I put him to bed he was drunk she said shortly the devil he was he frowned darkly and then seemed as ever quite the master of himself if the glance he cast at her discovered her state of mind he gave no

sign of uneasiness, he approached her with his easy air as if nothing unusual had happened, but when he spoke again, his voice was pitched low and his eyes were soft. I thought you'd be in bed, child. I've something to say to you, she cut in quickly. Oh, very well, say on, my dear. You don't mind if I smoke a cigarette. She made no reply. He lighted one and sank into the most comfortable. chair with a sigh of content. At least you owe me something, Barry Quinlavin, she began tensely, trying to keep her voice under control, and announcing her light motif, so to speak in her first phrase. I'm no chattled of years, no infant any longer to be bandied about as a dupe in your

wild plans for the future. It's my future you're dealing with just as you've dealt with my past. Have you had any cause to complain of my treatment of you he broke in calmly you've chided me lied to me all my life isn't that enough kept me in ignorance of the source of our livelihood god knows what is made me a partner in a crime without my knowledge made me help you to get dishonest money hardly he said it was your own money i don't believe you she said icily if it was my money you would have gotten it for me all of it long ago and lost yourself my dear to the duc de votrins he countered quickly she started slightly that possibility hadn't occurred to her but she went on rapidly you forget that i heard what you said to harry that i know what has been in your heart all these years i was your decoy and you used me as you pleased glad of my working which kept me busy so that i couldn't be inquiring what was going on you forget you forget

that I heard why you wanted me to marry Harry, but I can't forget it. What to God I could, and you'd dare to ask me, if I have anything to complain of, knowing all that, and knowing that I know it. Do you think I'm a mere piece of furniture without a soul, not to care what my heritage is, not to cherish my traditions? You build my life on a lie, destroyed my very identity and a breath, torn down all the sacred idols of my girlhood,

and young womanhood and ground them under your feet you she caught at her heart and took a step nearer him my mother who was my mother she gasped he shrugged mary callanby the duchesse de votrne he said easily and you are patricia madeleine olnoy de vaughtrains impossible i'm no longer credulous you'll have to believe the truth and who are you who asked me to believe you who dared to speak of me of the sanctity of motherhood who taught me that i was your own daughter and then my mother your wife she broke off with a sob quickly controlled it was because i loved you moira dear he said very quietly she halted aghast at this tenderness the familiar tones of which made her once for a moment whether she weren't dreaming all the dreadful accusations on her tongue's end but a pain shot through her heart to remind her of her sufferings and was it because you loved me that she dared obliterate me sneered at my pitiful love affair the only passion i've had in my life or will have and even tried to murder in cold blood the object of it answer me that very quenlist the irishman's manner now changed his brows drew together in a tight knot and the long fingers upon the chair-arm clenched until the knuckles were white i'll answer you that he said abruptly and more i heard what you had to say with patience and chagrin i'll take the blame from his sins of a mission where blame is due trust into your conscience to be forgiven me presently for your harsh tones to one who's

sinned for the very love of you. But when you speak of this other man who by trick, forces his way into your lodgings and your affections, learned your family's secrets in mine, read your letters in mine, makes love to his own brother's wife, behind his back, your own brother-in-law, mind you, and then tells one lie after another to make his story good. It's time there was a man about the place to protect you. If you can't protect yourself, stop! no i've heard you now you'll be listening to me if harry isn't man enough to be lookin out for what belongs to him then i am you've given this man your heart acknowledged your affections before us all god be praised that's all it amounts to but when you hear me out you'd be wishing your tongue had rotted before you'd made such an admission he saw her shrink and he rose from his chair following up his advantage quickly

there there my dear you've almost had enough of trouble for one night gone she murmured staunchly but if you're going to speak ill of jim horton i won't believe you you can do as you please about that but i'll be telling you what i know what i know of him just the same and when I tell you I wish I'd shot him dead before your eyes I'd only be satisfying the conscience of your life long guardian and protector conscience you she laughed hysterically go on I will little as you like it when I went from here where do you suppose I went to Bouchard and I wrung from him the truth about your friend Jim Horton it was piquette morin who helped him from the house in the rue charon i know it i thank god for it it was piquette moran who took him back to her apartment in the boulevard clichy and kept him there until he recovered i know that too go on but you didn't know that piquette moran was a woman without a shred of conscience or morals a woman of the streets who glories in her infidelities to the dukept of of Otrin whose mistress she is. I care nothing for that, stammered Moira. You may not care, since Jim Horton has lied about that, too, but you will care about the relations that exist

between the toe of them. I won't listen, said Moira, making for the door, but he barred her way. Oh, yes, you'll listen, Moira, dear, and I'll be giving you all the proofs you need before him through. Proofs, I dare you. All in good time. if you be patient where do you think i went from pochards to the boulevard clichy where your precious friend had returned to the arms of madame morin she waved a hand in protest i watched the door the apartment he came out i followed and where do you suppose he went to the ticket office where he booked up compartment for two on the twelve o'clock train to morseilles and what of that she stammered merely that a friend Jim Horton failing of success with his brother's wife has decided upon a honeymoon to the Riviera with a lady who is more complaisant than yourself i don't believe it you'd find it less difficult to believe if you guessed how mad she was for him how handsome she is and how skilled in the wily arts of her sex and trade he said keenly oh he said with a shrug it could only have been a great passion that would have dared to rescue from the house in the rous charon and no man remains long ungrateful for such an act of unselfishness moira leaned against the mantelshelfth

staring at him wide-eyed but he met her look with one more steady than hers hardy indignant but injured and grieved too at her attitude skillfully he had baited his hook with a truth that she knew he saw the fleeting question in her eyes and answered it quickly if you want the proofs go to the boulevard clichy now he paused to give the suggestion wait or if you've no heart to-night for such a brutal encounter to-morrow on the train to marseilles he had caught her ear he knew it by the sudden shutting of her teeth over her words the proud lift of her chin the hard look that came into her eyes and though she answered him still defiantly her tone had no body in it and trembled with the new uncertainty i don't believe you i don't ask you to but you will believe in the evidence of your eyes and i'll be providing you with that my dear how you hate him she gasped he shrugged he shrugged and turned half toward her hate hardly i merely despise him i would have killed him to-night with a clean conscience knowing what i do he dropped the cigarette he had taken up and approached her a pace or two oh moira alonov won't you see is it blind ye are to the truth that lies before your very eyes can't you see that it's the love of you that drives you that drives you me to protect your happiness? Have I ever failed you all these years? Haven't I given you your share of all I had? Answer me that. Aye, even when there was not too much for the both of us. I, I've heard enough

tonight, she said wearily. I'm sorry. I've done what I thought was the best. I'm still your guardian. until you come into your own. I can't listen to that, she shuddered. DeVotre, my father. He vowed his head with tragic grace. The same, bad says to him. She sank into a chair, bewildered and helpless. I want nothing, only to go away somewhere alone.

I've heard enough. That you shall do presently, Alonov, he said, touching her gently, the familiar voice close at her ear. But now you must be going to bed and trying to sleep. Tis a cruel day you've had. Cruel, but tomorrow when you've had some rest. Tomorrow, she raised a despairing face.

You've got to be facing it. But no more tonight. Come. She let him take her by the arm to the door. Forgive me, Akushla, he whispered. But she made no reply. and left him standing there and quinlevin watched her merge into the darkness within then turned and picked up the cigarette he had dropped lighted it with great care and set and smoked ruminating over the ashes in the fireplace but he had played his cards with the true gambler's knowledge of the psychology of his victim jealousy such a weapon at his very hand

it was almost a pity to use it poor child as if she hadn't already suffered enough but there was no choice and she would get over it love never killed only hate only hate he finished one cigarette and then glanced toward the door through which moira had passed then lighted another and composed himself for a while longer it was not until he was near the end of this cigarette that a slight sound caused him to look up over his shoulder framed against the black opening moira stood pale dark-eyed her black hair streaming over her flimsy dressing gown and then came forward noiselessly more a child he cried rising with an air of surprise you must show me the proof she stammered what she said to-morrow yes if he insist adieu it's a test of the truth between you and-and him i'll provide it you you'll leave with me on the 12 o'clock train for Marseilles? Yes, anything. Very well, he muttered. I'll arrange for it. I've some business in Nice. It's just as well if you come along. Anything, she whispered, shivering and still protesting. But I don't believe, I don't believe. Go to bed again, child. I'll call

you in the morning. As she disappeared, he turned toward the mantle, hiding the smile of triumph that crossed his lips. Then he leaned for a long while looking into the hearth. Poor child, he whispered, tis a cruel pity, but he paused and then turned toward the bottle upon the table, which he raised and examined carefully, then sat down with an air of disgust. The drunken scut, he muttered, then swore softly below his breath. What remained of quinlevin's task was not difficult, for he had already anticipated his success with Moira by making arrangements with Nora Bert and Tricot. Norah to face De Votran with her confession and her evidence, Tricot to help him in keeping Jim Horton from reaching the Duke.

By the expression of Moira's face when they met in the studio in the morning, he discovered that his poison had worked at slow course. through her veins. Irish she was. All Irish now, slow to love and quick to jealousy, proud to the quick, and capable of a fine hatred when the proofs were brought, as Barry Quinlavin intended to bring them. She listened with an abstracted air as he told her that her old nurse, Nora Burke, and a man, a friend of his, were to be the other members of their party. showed some surprise and then a mild interest but he could see that to moira her companions meant very little she was thinking brooding somberly over what he had told her and his air of confidence in his undertaking did nothing to give her courage for her decision and yet he knew that she would abide by it a choice between jim horton and himself and he knew already what that choice was to be for reasons of his own it was important that jim horton and piquette

should not see him on the train nor that moira should be presented merely with the evidence of the two of them entering the train the evidence must be condemnatory he would wait and trust to circumstances the thing was simplicity itself the window into the corridor was like a dispensation he passed the compartment once or twice to make sure that the shade of the little window had not been a drawn and then when it grew dark saw that piquette had gone fast asleep with her head on horton's shoulder then he acted quickly come he said to moira it is time i showed you who is the liar and resolutely she followed him looked and saw nothing seemed to matter to her after that incredulity surprise and then guilt all expressed so clearly in jim horton's face in the brief moment when their glances had met the pretty painted face upon his shoulder the arm that he withdrew from around the woman's waist her sudden awakening as he started all these brief impressions so vivid so terrible in their significance armed her with new strength and courage to hide her pain from norah burke and barry quinlevin he watched her with admirable with admirable her heart might be breaking but she'd never whimper now he knew her are you satisfied my dear he asked yes quite she gasped and you'll be listening to nora while she tells you the truth i will good i must be leaving ye for a while to talk with my friend and don't be distrusted me again aloneth

moira was silent and gazed out of the window into the darkness until nora came and she listened to the tale that nora burke told or seemed to listen and thus quinlevin found them later the girl's hand in that of her old nurse the announcement that they were to get out of the train at st etienne created no astonishment moira moved as in a dream obeying blindly as she had always been accustomed to obey the suggestions of her protector caring nothing for their significance and reassured as to the integrity of his intentions with regard to herself there was no doubting that he loved her in his strange way and the fury he had expended upon jim horton seemed scarcely less than that she now felt for him a man could kill but a woman could only despise she was at least thankful when she saw the train bearing the couple pass out of her sight into the darkness and followed quinlevin where he led to a hotel for the night to another train in the morning to marseilles to nice and the hotel rille where in the privacy of a room of her own she threw herself upon the bed and gazed dry-eyed at the ceiling end of chapter fifteen chapter sixteen of the splendid outcast by george gibbs this librovoc's recording is in the public domain recording by tony oliva nora speaks the attention of m de vaughtran having been attracted by piquette's news of the immediate threat against his fortune it was no longer difficult to persuade him to listen to what jim horton had to say

madame tibault was therefore conducted with scant ceremony to an apartment in the hotel de paris after which the dukrie joined piquette and jim in the casino the unflattering opinion jim horton had formed of this french nobleman was upon closer acquaintance in a way modified the peevish and supercilious air with which he had greeted piquette had changed to one scarcely less unpleasant affidity anxiety and apprehension which revealed weakness of fibre one would not have expected to discover between the points of so long and so imposing a moustache he gave jim the impression of being very weary in the pursuit of a will-o-l-l-o-wiss and in repose his face bore the scars worn by those who live for pleasure alone altogether he seemed a person scarcely worth borrowing so much trouble about his attitude of suspicion toward jim was illy concealed and he listened frowning and questioning until at last convinced of the reality of his danger at the hands of the renegade irish adventurer to whose venial cleverness he had so long paid handsome tribute but they can do nothing he said at last in excellent english with an air of bravado which was meant to be effective and which was only pitiful.

I'm not so sure about that, said Jim. The mere fact of your having paid for the support of the child for so many years makes it seem, as though you believed in the thing. What do I care? I have the money. Let them take it if they can. Oh, they'll take it all right, if you don't find some way to meet their evidence. Lies.

Yes, of course. But you've got to prove that they are. Where's your defense? You didn't even know you had a daughter until Barry Quinlavin told you you had? What proof have you that your own child died? And if you believed Quinlavin then, why shouldn't you believe him now? I had my suspicions. Pardon me? Suspitions won't satisfy an Irish court or a French one. What proof have you that Madam Horton isn't your own child? None, exactly. but everybody who could have known anything about the matter is dead except nora burke and you've already heard what she has to say hmm and what is your interest in this matter monsieur that's a fair question said jim slowly i'll give you a fair answer madam horton is my brother's wife the story i've given you is straight as piquet will tell you since she heard much of it from my brother's wife the story i've given you is straight as piquette will tell you since she heard much of it from my brother's my brother. Your daughter died shortly after her mother, your wife. My interest in this affair is personal, to this extent. I don't intend to have Madam Horton used any longer by an unprincipled blackmailer. Surely then you would have told Madame Orton the truth and saved me this unpleasantness. Yes, I've told her, said Jim slowly, but she's helpless.

can't you see monsieur it has all been very sudden for her she doesn't know what to believe besides mrs quinlevin has the birth certificate and the testimony of the nurse but if madame horton is an honorable woman you can count on that put in horton quickly she doesn't want your money she isn't quinlevin's kind then why doesn't she renounce him she might but what difference would that make she might permit herself to think she was joan of arc but that wouldn't make her any one but patricia made made made madeleine olney olney de vaughtrein if barry quinlevin has evidence enough to prove that she is de vaughtrein frowned darkly and twitched his jewelled fingers but she would have something to say about her own desires in the matter he said her own desires haven't anything to do with it see here monsieur de votrins Barry Quinlevin proves her birth by a certificate. He also proves by the nurse that she was the child brought into his house, and the child he has brought up as his ward, bearing his name and accepting your money for 21 years, hush money, monsieur, that you paid to keep her out of a fortune you thought belonged to her. But it doesn't belong to her, cried de Votrins, gestic.

it's mine since the child is dead monsieur arry horton piquette broke in monsieur harry horton could be called to the stan of course but his testimony is not to be relied upon your brother monsieur yes monsieur de voughton replied jim my brother but an intimate of barry quinloven's ah i comprehend an accordion you might call him that if you like he shrugged and turned aside we don't get along my brother and i but i don't think you'll find much to gain by putting him on the witness stand besides it won't look very pretty in the papers it's as much to my interest as yours to keep it out the duke eyed him suspiciously again but you must have some other interest besides this in wishing to help me what's the axe you have to grind monsieur jim horton grinned and shrugged for myself nothing that is difficult to believe then i would advise you to tax your imagination to the utmost i don't want madame horton to figure in an affair that she will regret the rest of her life but why monsieur is in love with madame horton piquette's voice broke in very calmly there was a silence for a moment in which jim horton looked at piquette piquette gazed at de vautrin and de votrins stared from one to the other in astonishment his knowledge of the world had given him no instinct to appraise a situation such as this but piquette met his gaze clearly it is the truth olivier she repeated and now perhaps you understand it is extraordinary he gasped and you too

i brought into you your interests are the same and mine with both parbleu if i could believe it jem horton rose aware of a desire to pull the wax moustaches to see if they were real you needn't believe it if you don't want to he said carelessly and you don't have to believe my story but i've given you your warning barry quinlevin may be in nice now with his birth certificate and his nora burke he buttoned his overcoat and turned toward the door i think i'll be going back to nice piquette he said coolly and then to the bewildered frenchman good-night monsieur one moment gasped the duke toddling after him and catching him by the hand i believe you monsieur why should i not believe you since what you say is what i wish to believe it is all very bewildering I should have thanked you long ago for your kindness. Jim Horton turned with a smile. It's about time, and it ought to be fairly clear that I have little interest in your fortune,

or even in you, monsieur. I don't mind being shot at for my interference in Mr. Quinlivan's affairs, but I might have been hit, or Piquet might, which would have been worse, and I don't relish having my word doubt. or hers i beg forgiveness you have been shot at bickette explained quickly while DeVotrins's watery eyes grew larger mon dieu and you say they are coming here yes if their dinky little train ever reaches its destination I'm afraid you're in for it

Monsieur de Votrins threw out his arms wildly I will not see them I will go away Jim Horton nodded. That's all right, but it's only putting off the evil moment. When they get their evidence working, you'll have to meet it some way. And then what will you do? De Votrin had caught Jim by the coat sleeve and pulled him down into the seat beside him, and then with a pseudo-dramatic air which failed of conviction. I shall fight, monsieur. With what?

With the evidence you've given me. It's not enough. horton shook his head and laughed it looks to me as though you were elected president of the quinlavin endowment association but there must be some way of getting at the truth cried the frenchman now really pitiful in his alarm ah that's it laughed jim you know madame horton is not your daughter and i know it but that doesn't beat quenlevin what then monsieur you've got to kill his ever but how with stronger evidence of your own you haven't it or any prospect of getting it that i can see so there's only one course open and that monsieur asked de vaute rein eagerly to break down quinlevance i'm no lawyer but that's only common sense norah burke is a liar bribed with five thousand pounds and there never was a lie that didn't have its weak points you've got to make her the truth how i don't know but i wouldn't mind trying then you've got to get that birth certificate i don't see how you expect to do that neither do i quenlvan is no fool but then he's not supernatural either the duke was silent appalled by the undertaking which had presented itself and the calm way in which his visitor discussed his projects filled him with wonder justice monsieur de vaughtron is on your side will you fight for it assuredly monsieur if you will but help jim horton laughed then you no longer believe i have an axe to grind no no monsieur and you no longer cherish evil thoughts of piquette

upon my honor said the duke a jewelled hand at his heart and yet monsieur you can hardly blame me me for some irritation at meeting her here with you. Jim Horton glanced toward the door significantly and then dryly. You hardly deserve her, Monsieur de Votrins. I am proud of her friendship. It's the finest thing in my life. De Votron wagged his head foolishly and then shrugged a futile shoulder. What do you want me to do, monsieur? he asked peevishly. Horton lighted a cigarette carefully and took piquette by the hand first m de votran he said coolly you will send madame tibaut about her business monsieur said the duke with a show of dignity suit yourself but she's in the way this is no time for fooling does she go or doesn't she devoutrin's injured dignity trembled in the balance for a moment and then fell away merged in his apprehension for the immediate future that can can doubtless be arranged he said with a frown good said horton jovially and the sooner the better it will clear the atmosphere amazingly then we will prepare to fight m'nquinlovin with his own weapons yes you i

Piquette, that's what we came here for. You've made the mistake of under-rating Barry Quinlavin. He's desperate. He's playing a big game. And if you don't want to be the goat, you'll do what I advise. I'm listening. If I'm not mistaken, he will reach here tomorrow afternoon with Madame Horton and Nora Burke, and you got to see them. Aye, monsieur. Yes, you're here in your rooms, in the Hotel de Paris. you will give it out that you are here for a week they must take rooms in monte carlo then you will listen politely to everything quinlevin has to say to everything nora burke has to say but you yourself will say nothing but you monsieur i shall be in an adjoining room but they must not know it but barry quinlevin will discover that you have been been here of course you will tell him that they will tell you that i have lied but you won't believe

them and then you will tell them that i have gone away but when will you come into my assistance that depends upon what i hear through the keyhole but would it not be simpler to pay this norah burke for telling the truth horton laughed it does seem simple doesn't it i don't know much about french law but i wouldn't want to be caught at it out where i come from let's play this game straight and trust to luck if quinlevin is too sharp for us we'll try something else do you agree of course monsieur and so it was settled on the following morning madame tibaut was sent back to paris and piquette and jim horton austin took the train for Nice, returning subsequently by automobile to Monte Carlo, where they were hidden in rooms in the Hotel de Paris. In this they were aided by an official of the hotel who proved to be an old acquaintance of Piquettes in Paris. And so when Barry Quinlivan arrived from Nice in the afternoon with Moira and Nora Burke, inquiring for the Duke,

the information was conveyed directly to horton who was happy to learn that tricoe had not yet caught up with the party monsieur de vaughtrains who had been carefully rehearsed in the part he was to play seemed to enter into the game with some spirit and was sent over to the casino to play trante carante where after a while barry quinlevin found him deeply absorbed in his game of chance. The Duke manifested polite surprise. Quenlevin polite insistence, and then they talked for a while. The Duke indifferently, Quinlivan impressively, to the end that an appointment was made for an hour later the following afternoon in the Duke's apartment, where he would listen in all good nature and tolerance to what his visitors would have to say. he hoped his daughter was handsome it would be a pity if all this money was to go to one who could not use it with dignity all this in an ironic and jocular mood which only brought a dour smile upon quinlevin's face but the main object of the preliminary encounter was achieved for barry quinlevin accepted without reservation the duke's

assertion that jim horton having performed his mission had returned to paris when the hour of the appointment arrived jim horton set behind the door into the bedroom of m de votrins carefully studying the pages of an english-french dictionary the duke set over his paper with an air of unconcern he was far from feeling piquette at the american's instruction was elsewhere quinlevin shone to the door of the room by a servant of the hotel met the duke with his most amiable smile and introduced the women of his party moira was pale nor a burke uncomfortable but arrogant monsieur de votrins quenlevin began with something of an air permit me to present to you your daughter patricia mandelaine urnoy de vaughtrein the duke smiled politely bowed and stared moira who as though in duty had taken a step toward him paused and then as she saw the look that m de votrins swept over her the color flamed into her cheeks. The duke's rebuff gave for the first time a true perception of the position in which she had voluntarily placed herself. If she were a mere adventurous, he could not have accused her more eloquently, and the admiration in his impudent stare was even more insulting.

This man, this effete boulevardier, her father. impossible and the repulsion she felt at the side of him made her wish only to go anywhere away from the side of him what else she had expected she didn't know for even barry quinlevin had not been too explicit as to what would be likely to happen but there was her mentor at her side a gentle hand upon her elbow urging her forward into the arm-chair by the window which monsieur de votrance was indicating with a rather exaggerated gesture of formality thanks monsieur said quinlevin with an easy laugh sinking into another chair you're not to be blamed for not flying into each other's arms after all these years when your acquaintance in the beginning was to say the least a most trivial affair but in a while perhaps you'll be known each other better and i'm sure monsieur you'd be fined in my word as i have done a fine creature capable of the most filial devotion ah said devotorin i don't doubt that it would truly be a great pleasure to me to discover so beautiful a creature to be a daughter of mine but the facts of the matter unfortunately one moment monsieur broke in quinlevin before we arrive at the facts in the matter you must be aware that this situation is none of my ward's choosing she came because she knew that it was a sacred duty which she owed to the memory of her mother many years have passed since your affairs are called you away from ireland and she lays no fault to yourself for your desertion for which i have taken all the blame she knows that she provided for her comfortably and that i have made it my pleasure to act as your

substitute as well as i could but the time has come when she must take her place in the world to which she belongs and it's my duty to be putting her there to this end as you see i brought with me her old nurse norah burke with whom you are already acquainted and who will be answering any questions that you would like to put to her monsieur de votrins frowned and moved his gaze from moira to the servant who stood her large hands badly gloved folded upon her stomach her feet shifting uneasily i've heard something of nora burke's story said de votrind dryly but there are parts of it that i have not heard you're quite at liberty to question monsieur put in quenlevin norah too is merely a instrument of truth in the hand of providence since providence has ceased providing said the duke dryly i comprehend but i will listen to this extraordinary tale again since i have promised to do so he can do no harm allon proceed norah burke my poor wife you say engaged you some weeks before my daughter was born she dead your highness and as the woman hesitated go on nora said the child was born this very girl they call moira quinlevin who sits before ye a beautiful child she was fine and healthy that a poor duchess never lived to see for she died that night got rest her soul faded away before our very eyes and who was there beside yourself asked the duke coolly dominic fenyuken the doctor from athlone and father riley the priest who gave her absolution and who since died said de votrand dryly yes your highness but the birth of

certificate i was after capen since no father came near us not any relation marie callonby was a lonely kind and when she came back to galway took to living solitary like on the small farm with only the one servant mrs boyle to look after her and mrs boyle is also dead put in de vaughtron keenly she is it's very unfortunate that all the witnesses have seen fit to die all but me your highness said nora assertively de vaughtin shrugged well what happened then well mrs boyle and meself we didn't know what to be after doing so we just found the advice of father arreilly and what did he tell you to do nora glanced at quinlevin who nodded in a whorhill he brought mr barry quinlevin this gentleman here who lived on the only place near by and told us to be going to his home mr quinlevin was after being very lonely he said his own wife and colin having died a few months before that was kind of mr quenlevin we thought so your highness but it was kind of father riley too for nobody was after coming to see about the poor child and mr quinlevin was that grateful he watched the babby like it was his own that's true enough he would sneered the duke and what happened then mrs boyle and i we lived in the house of mr quinlevin her as cook and me as nurse bringing up the choild as miss moira quinlevin alone in the house for wakes at a time when mr quinlevin was after being away to london or paris on business but all the while i was caping the birth certificate and all the while trying me best to take the place of poor marie callanby

and you were well paid for this service asked de vaughtron i had me wages it was enough and when you heard that mr quinlevin had seen me in the service had seen me in paris two years afterward you receive more money norah's glance sought quinlevin who broke in calmly i gave nora as well as mrs boyle a bit more you understand a proper share of the sum for the support of the child and they agreed to say nothing he fingered in his pocket and brought forth a paper this as you can plainly see is a copy of the birth certificate of your child and the original asked the duke will be provided at the proper time said quinlevin shrewdly de vaughtron took the paper and read it carefully and where is mrs boyer at the present moment he asked dead also three weeks ago said quinloven calmly it's most unfortunate but her signature can be verified and father riley also of course said the duke with a quick glance toward his bedroom door and there are other papers yes said quinlevin letters from you accompanying your cheques which guarantee your verbal agreement in paris the will of patrick calenby and a few other trifles which are important to you and you'll think your case is complete oh yes quite an irish court won't hesitate very long just at this time in carrying out the provisions of this will monsieur de vaughtrain smiled and what do you wish me to do he asked quietly to perform merely an act of restitution an act of justice to your own you know the terms of the will in the event of the mother dying her fortune was to revert unconditionally to the child but she's to be considerate of your age and the relation that exists between you which however strange it may seem to you

both at this time is that a father and only daughter you both form the habits of your lives yourself live in bachelor fashion in paris and london your daughter is disposed to be generous and does not wish to interfere with your plans for the future she will if you please still keep the matter secret and go on living with me yourself to continue in the comfortable life of your bachelorhood and your terms asked de vaughtron quietly barry quinlevin pocketed the copy of the birth certificate which m de vaughtran had put upon the table as to terms that won't be made difficult the estate of patrick callanby was reckoned at a million pound sterling we'll say twenty millions of francs are thereabout since ye're not a man of business and allowing for depreciation give your daughter proper securities to the amount of one-third of her fortune and she will assign the other two-thirds to you quinlevin paused for when the terms were mentioned monsieur de vaughtrain had begun to smile and now burst into an unpleasant laugh well monsieur de vaughtrain broke off quinlevin angrily it's merely he replied that you don't figure enough for depreciation what do you mean twenty-one years is a long wire and you're right when you say that i am no man of business my fortune has diminished year by year and since the war poof it has vanished into thin air the estate of patrick calenby monsieur is now a myth barry quinlevin rose trying to keep his temper there are ways of verifying your statements monsieur of course i commend you to them and norah burke who might have told me the truth last summer in ireland when i was disposed to be generous i've told the truth asserted nora doggedly in spite of her bewilderment

and how much more will you tell when there's no money for the telling said de vaughtron rising for at this moment the door into the adjoining room opened and jim Horton strode quickly into the room. End of chapter 16. Chapter 17 of the splendid outcast by George Gibbs. This Libra Vox recording is in the public domain, recording by Tony Oliva. Jim makes a guess. Horton did not look at Moira and quickly sought out the tall figure of the astonished Irishman who stood by the table glaring, anguishman.

What's this, Monsieur de Votrin? he asked. I beg pardon, said Horton quickly, but my departure has been delayed by the necessity for presenting some evidence which had been overlooked by Mr. Quinlavin. A trick, Monsieur de Votrins, stormed the Irishman. I'll have none of him. And moved toward the door into the corridor, but Jim Horton had reached it ahead of him and quickly locking the door, put the key into his pocket, turned quickly, his height topping Quinlivan's, his bulk dominating him. I'm afraid you must, said Horton Cooley. Must. Quinlivan struggled for his temper and then, realizing that he was doing his cause no good, shrugged a careless shoulder and glanced toward the door into the adjoining room.

And your companion de voyage? Is she to be with us also? he said insultingly for moira's benefit horton met moira's glance as she took a pace forward toward him by what right do you keep me here against my will she asked in angry disdain he faced her coolly by every right you've given me to act in your interest whether you wish it or not i'm quite capable of looking after my own affairs she cut in quickly he smiled quietly if i thought so i shouldn't be here will you unlock that door she asked icily he did not move and his level gaze met hers calmly no moira he said gently i won't oh she gasped furiously then turned her back and went to the window where she stood silently looking down over the garden without noticing her further horton turned toward quinlevin you seem to have forgotten your conversation with me in the hospital at new ye mr quinlevin and the intimate blood-ties bind me to your fellow conspirator harry horton quinlevin had sunk into a chair in an attitude of careless grace and playing this old gambler's game smiled grimly up into the face of the enemy your talents for the dramatic will be getting me into trouble mr horton i've only to be asking moira to shout for help from the window to lend you in a jail but i confess to some idle curiosity as to your reasons for this behavior and a horn ye that

you unlock the door, I'll see you into prison at Monaco. In the meanwhile, I'll tell you that what you say will be held against you. And what of the evidence I hold against you, Barry, Quinlavin? The evidence of a deserter from the American army, Quinlavin, sneered. Let it be brief and to the point, Corporal Horton. You don't alarm me, said Horton calmly. I've discounted that. Give me up to the provis-guard and my brother will go on the witness stand against me but against you too mr quenlevin in monsieur de votrins's interests horton laughed easily as the irishman refused to reply come perhaps it won't be necessary to go so far as that if your friend tricot had done his shooting at marboeuf a little lower neither piquet nor i would be here to oppose you jim horton saw moira turn from the window with startled eyes at Tricoe's name, but he went on carelessly. But here I am, and I'm not easy to kill, Mr. Quinlivan. If I came through at Wossier Wood, I'm not likely to get hit now, so you'd better listen to me. I've been doing little else these ten minutes, Mr. Horton,

said Quinlivan, yawning politely. I won't waste any more time than I can help, but when you promise Nora Burke five thousand pounds for telling a lie, I want to give her her money's worth. he turned to the old woman with a frown as he caught her off her guard but quinlevin broke in quickly say here horton i've had about enough of this the irishman rose furiously but horton took a quick pace toward him keep your hands out of your pocket quinlevin he shouted warningly i'm younger than you and quicker that's better and m de votrins you will please close the window the interview is apt to be noisy the irishman knew that he was no match in physical strength for the american and so he sank into his chair again horton near him in a commanding position where he could watch nora burke he was conscious of moira's gaze from the corner by de vaughtrain she had not spoken but he knew that he had her attention again five thousand pounds for a lie he said distinctly over quinlevin's head that's true isn't it norah but the woman had had time to regain some of her composure after the sudden shock of his first accusation and turned on him defiantly tis not she replied and the man lies who says it even if it was mr quinlevin himself said horton sighing noughton norah the irishman's voice broke in quickly no one can make you speak but when he says silence horton shrugged as you please but she'll have to answer later

and it won't be so easy then. Five thousand pounds is a lot of money. It's a lie. Silence, from Quinlavin. It's a mighty small sum, Nora Burke, for so big a lie. When the woman opened her mouth to speak again, Quinlavin silenced her with a gesture, but her face was flushed, and she shifted from one foot to the other, glaring at her tormentor, who it seemed had just begun his inquisition. Horton smiled at her. grimly it's a mighty small sum nora especially as you're not going to get any of it unless mr quinlevin has other means at his disposal i want no money for mr quinlevin then you're just lying for the fun of it do you happen to know what the penalty for false swearing is in france don't let him frighten you norah interjected the irishman it's excommunication said horton grinning at his own invention. Nora was silent, but her face was a study in her varying emotions. She had not bargained for this, and her knees were shaking under her.

Quinlivan's laugh reassured her a little. I'm not believe in you, she muttered. You don't have to believe me, but you'll wish you'd never left Galway when Monsieur de Votrins's lawyer gets through with you, and nothing at the end of it all but a French jail. I never did any harm in my life, except if for get to speak the truth you're getting old nora maybe that's what's the matter with your memory because monsieur de votrins is certain that the facts about the birth of his child are quite different from those you've related you've said that mary callanby's child was this very girl called moira quinlevin i did she was blurted nora furiously and before she died that very night

she gave the child a christian name she did you're very sure of this nora warned quenlivan i'm sure of it why wouldn't i cried nora when i was hearing the very words of her tongue and the child was a girl yes a girl quenlivan rose glaring at horton silence nora then why insisted horton if the child was a girl was it given the christian name of a boy a boy nora burke started back a pace her round foolish face usually florid now the color of putty nora quenlevin roared keep silent you hear but it was too late to repair the damage done horton had not taken his gaze from nora burke's face and he knew that he had struck his mark he was aware of moira who had come forward and was leaning on the table near him watching as eagerly as he Jim Horton shrugged and brought quickly from his pocket a small red book, which he opened at a page carefully dog-eared. This little book is a dictionary of French and English, Nora. It's a very good dictionary.

Here's a page of Christian names in French and in English. Here you are. Patrice. Patrick. Can you tell me in the name of all that's sensible why, Mary Callenby named the child Patrick? unless it was a boy? Nora gasped for breath once or twice, glancing at Quinlavin, who shrugged and frowned. The name upon the birth certificate is Patricia, he growled. Then who changed it? asked Horton keenly, glaring at Nora. Not I saw, I, I can't write,

she gasped. Jim Horton laughed. He couldn't have been Father Riley or Dr. Finiocaine. perhaps Mr. Quinlivan will produce the certificate when the time comes gasped Quinlavin you'll see it in a court of law and the death certificate of your own child too mr quinlevin asked Horton amiably aye that too he stammered in his rage as he faced the American but you won't be there to see for on my evidence you'll be shot my friend the masquerader I'll have to run that chance Moira's voice tense shrill with nervousness broke in as she caught quinlevin by the arm no never you will not dare i forbid it well see to that the duke who at last seemed to have recovered his initiative came forward with an air of alacrity perhaps m horton it is just as well if you now unlock the door horden looked at his wrist-watch willingly oblige me monsieur and he handed de vaughtran the key unless there are some further matters mr quinlevin wishes to discuss jim's gaze met moiris for the fraction of a second and brief as it was he seemed to find a glimpse of that fool's paradise in which he had lived for a while and then her glance turned from him to quinlevin as she moved past horton toward the door norah burke her stolidity shaken her arrogant mean fallen amid the wreck of her probity sent a fleeting glance over her shoulder toward the long mustaches of de vaughtron and stumbled after moira but the duke was in high feather again and fairly dense to the door

will you give me your paris address that i may send you the money mr barry quinlevin he shouted after him into the corridor there was no reply quinlevin's clever house of cards had toppled and fallen, but Horton followed down the corridor when they turned the corner and watched what happened. At the landing, the Irishman made a gesture, and the two women went in the direction of their rooms while Quinlevin passed down the stairs. When Horton returned to the room, the Duke closed the door and came delightedly toward him. Ah, my ami, it was as good as a play. How did you know that my child was not a girl but a boy i didn't know it sighed horton with a laugh i guessed it but you must have i got to thinking last night the whole story was a lie why shouldn't this be a part of it but a suspicion wasn't enough enough for a starter monsieur you'll admit it might have been a boy just because you always thought the child was a girl that didn't make it one i lay awake phrases in quinlevin's talk in the studio came back to me and i began to think about the name patrice he said a little hard to read patricia it is just phrases but this meant something

female me boy a little illegible horton turned with a quick gesture why should the name patricia be illegible when all the rest was clear but you said nothing of the these to me muttered the duke i wasn't sure i sent out for the dictionary it had the christian names in the back patrice was patrick there wasn't any patricia you french have a way of giving males and females the same names anyway madeline i knew a frenchman in america with madeline for a middle name olnoy might be anything a family name yes your wife wanted your family name in it but she wanted her father's name too patrick so she called the boy patrice we can prove this now i think assuredly monsieur said de vaughton you are a genius no i'm only a good guesser but it worked i got the poor thing rattled and when i saw nora's face i knew i'd hit with the second barrel outside it was getting dark horton went to the window and peered out monsieur de votrins there's nothing to keep you here now he said it may be even dangerous to remain you must go away incognito and by the first train you've been very careless with your affairs lay your entire case in the hands of your lawyer telling him all that has happened here and sending to ireland for a careful search of the birth records of the parish of athlone but you monsieur what will you do i shall stay here awhile there's something else that i must do and piquette i will see that she returns safely you are very good monsieur said the duke will you forgive me for my suspicions yes if you will promise to give piquette the affection she deserves she is a child monsieur with great impulses both good and bad what she becomes

will depend upon your treatment of her. She has saved me from great trouble, bringing you, my savior. Horton moved into the bedroom and picked up his hat. Don't let that trouble you, he said, and then offered his hand. Glad to have met you, monsieur. All revere. I will see you in Paris in a week,

but don't waste any time getting out of here. A little sweet, you understand? Paris in a week, monsieur. And with a quick wave of his hand. horton went out and walked rapidly down the corridor the interview with quinlevin had served a double purpose he had succeeded beyond all hope in finding out what he had wanted to know and he had so occupied the irishman's time that piquette could proceed unmolested in making an investigation of her own he hurried up to her room to meet her as agreed watching the corridor he knocked by a preconcerted signal there was no reply after a moment he opened the door and entered the room was empty biquette was fearless but she was also clever it was her thought that barry quinlevin would take no chances with the original birth certificate and other papers in the apartment of m de votrins it was her suggestion that she be permitted to take advantage of the absence of quinlevin and his party to make a thorough search of the rooms for any private papers and in this she was aided and abetted by m jacques in the office of the hotel to whom she explained as much as was necessary and who provided the keys and wished her luck in her undertaking

jem had allowed her an hour for the investigation during which period he had promised to keep quinlivan prisoner here then piquette reached new heights of self-abnegation for in helping Jim in the cause of Moira she worked against her own interests which had nothing to do with Moira Quinloven Jim had opened her eyes to her obligations to Monsieur de Votrin but she had done her duty merely because Jim had asked it of her he had kissed her as though she were a queen she could never forget that but in spite of any mental reservation she may have had in doing something in the interest of the girl Jim Horton loved. She was conscious of a thrill of keen interest in the task that she had set herself, and Piquette went about her investigation methodically,

waiting on the steps from the upper landing until Quinlavin and the two women had entered the room of the duke, when keys in hand, she made her way quickly to the rooms Quinlivan had engaged. There were three of them, ensuite, with connecting doors, and with a quick glance along the empty corridor, she entered the nearest one, an ancient valise, and a flannel wrapper proclaimed its occupant, Nora. There might be something of interest here, but it was doubtful, for Barry Quinlavin was hardly a man to leave Nora in possession of any documents that were better kept in his own hands, but, Piquette nevertheless searched carefully and for her trouble found nothing. The door into the

adjoining room, that of Madame Horton, was open, showing how quickly and easily an entente had been re-established between Mora, Quinlavin, and her old nurse. At the threshold of this room, Piquette paused, glancing with a delicate frown at the articles of feminine apparel on bed and dressing-stead. hand. She sniffed, scenting the air delicately, her chin raised. Violet. Then she approached the bed and took a white garment and rubbed it critically between thumb and forefinger. Hmm, said Piquette again. A pair of stockings next, a small slipper which she measured with her own, shrugged and then searched the suitcase and dressing-table thoroughly. Of paper there was nothing,

not even a postcard. The door into Barry Quinlivan's room was bolted on the side where Piquette stood. She went back, through the rooms that she had passed, to be sure that nothing had been disarranged, locked the outside door of Nora Burke's room as she had found it, and then went back to Quinlivan's door, which she opened quickly and peered around. Here there was a field for more careful investigation a suitcase a dressing stand a bed some chairs a closet all of them she took in in a quick inspection the suitcase first and if locked she meant to take it bodily away it wasn't locked she had a slight sense of disappointment it contained a change of under linen some collars socks a box of cigars and a bottle of

irish whiskey all of these she scrutinized with care as well as the cloth lining and the receptacles in the lid and then arranging the contents as she had found them straightened with a short breath and looked elsewhere no m quinlevin would have hidden such important papers more cleverly than that where then in a place so obvious that no one would think of looking there for them that was an ancient trick, well known to the police. But after she had looked around the room, she examined the bed minutely, running her nimble fingers along the ticking of the mattress, the pillows, dismantling the bed completely, and then, satisfied that she had exhausted this possibility, remade it skillfully. Next, the dressing stand, inch by inch, inside and out, then the upholstery of the chairs straightening at last puzzled and yet she knew that the birth certificate must be in these rooms somewhere she moved the rugs examined the ashes in the fireplace the baseboard and moulding took down the pictures from the walls and then baffled sank into the arm-chair for a moment to think

could quinlevin have taken the precaution to leave the documents in the safe at the hotel ruille in nice or would he perhaps have deposited them downstairs in the strong box of the hotel de paris in that event monsieur her friend would help but her hour had not yet expired there were a few moments left where else were she to look she glanced at the picture molding the walls the electric light brackets by the bed and dressing stand, then rose for a last and possibly futile and despairing effort. She ran her sensitive fingers over the bracket by the bed. It was affixed to the wall by a hexagonal brass plate held by a small screw. She tried to move the screw with her fingers, but it resisted. So she ran to the dressing stand for a nail file and in a moment had moved the brass plate from the wall, a patch of broken wallpaper and wires in a small hole but no papers. She screwed the plate carefully into place and turned to the other fixture over the dressing stand. This was her last

venture, but she had determined to make it and felt a slight thrill of expectation when the screw of the first bracket moved easily in her fingers. She loosened the plate, and as it came out from the surface of the wall, there was a sibilant rustle, and something slipped down behind the dressing stand to the floor. Eager now with excitement, she thrust her fingers behind the plate and brought forth some papers. These, she examined quickly in amazement, then carefully screwed the bracket into its place, recovering the other paper that had fallen to the floor. Success. The papers that she had taken from behind the bracket she could not understand but the paper that she had recovered from the floor was the much desired birth certificate of the dead child the light was failing but in the shadow of the hangings of the french window she stood and read the name patricia madeleine au nois de vauclin she was filled with joy of her success and so absorbed in the perusal of the paper that she did not hear the small sounds that came

from the adjoining room, nor was she aware of the tall, dark figure of the girl with a pale face, who for a long moment had stood in the doorway watching her in silent amazement. And it was not until Moira spoke that Piquette turned, the papers hidden behind her, and met the steady gaze of the woman, Jim Horton, loved. What are you doing in this room? asked Moira steadily. End of Chapter 17. Chapter 18 of the Splendid Outcast by George Gibbs. This Librevox recording is in the public domain, recording by Tony Oliva. At Bay Piquette sent one fleeting glance at her, then stepped out upon the sill of the French window which extended to the floor.

When she turned toward Moira, a little pale and breathing rapid, her hands were empty what did you throw out of the window what are you doing here moira asked again moving quickly to the push button by the door answer me or a ring piquette by this time had recovered some of her composure madame it is not necessary to ring she said easily i can explain myself if you will be listened you have no right in this room room unless you are a servant of the hotel and that you are not no madam said picket coolly i am no servant of the hotel but strange to say even against my will i am your friend my friend who are you piquette glanced toward the door into the hall rather anxiously if you will permit me to come into your room i will answer you moira hesitated for a moment and then indicated the door by which he had entered piquette preceded her into the room as moira stood by the door still uncertain but curious as to this stranger who claimed friendship bickett indicated the door you will please close it madame she urged with a smile i am quite armless and moira obeyed catching the bolt into its place and turning with an air very little mollified who are ye she demanded shortly answer me instead of replying at once bickette sank into a chair crossed one knee over the other and leaned forward her chin on her fingers

staring frankly at her companion you are handsome madame orton she murmured as though grudgingly very handsome moira flushed a little and returned the other woman's look a sudden suspicion flashing across her mind that this woman this was who are you she stammered i am madame morin and i am madame morin and i am called piquette said the visitor clearly moira recoiled a pace her back as flat as the door behind her yo picket morin you dare quietly madame orton said picket gently i have told you i am your friend go madame said moira in a choking voice and pointing to the door go but picket did not move ah you do not believe me it is is the truth i am your friend i am proving it by coming in here by trying to help you in this i do not need your help madame will you go yes madame orton i will go in a minute when i tell you the risk jim orton and i have run to keep you from making of yourself a fool moira gasped at the impudence what i am does not matter but what you're and Jim Horton are does i wish to hear no more not even that monsieur queen levin has got the villain trico to shoot at us in the train picket shrugged sa pristine madame morton if we had been killed you would perhaps think it a proof of friendship she had caught the girl's attention but moira still demurred i ask no favors of you madame

she said haltingly no madame orton said piquette quietly but i'll give them freely for you for him perhaps you think that is nothing for me to do la la i am only human after all so was moira pickett's purposeful ambiguity aroused her curiosity and she turned toward the french girl her glance passing over her with a new interest i don't understand you madame she said coldly i did not hope that you would but it is not so difficult i try to help m gie morton because he has taught me what it means to be brave and faithful and honorable to the one he love and because you are blind and will not see not so blind that i have not seen what you would have hidden i have nothing to hide from you madame orton i am proud of the friendship of jimororton i would go to the end of the world to make him happy friendship gasped moira i love madame said piquette gently call it what you please and you dared tell me this you piquet only smiled faintly yes i love him and then with the simplicity of a child don't you madame moiris stared at her for a second as though she hadn't heard correctly no no this is too much you will oblige me you wish me to go said piquette with a shrug in a moment but first let me tell you that what monsieur queen levin has told you about us is a lie

all lies you forget madame said moira that i have seen pickett smiled because i go to sleep with my head on his shoulder and what is that for shame madame jim orton care nothing for me i bring him out of the house in the rich charon i nurse him in my apartment you think he make love to me when he think of you piquette laughed scornfully what kind of woman are you to see the love in the eyes of an honest man and not remember it for the greatest thing that come in a woman's life his eyes mon dieu madame i know the eyes of men he only love once jim horton and you think he make love to me i would give myself to him but what gie morton give to me is much more sweet more beautiful he kiss me on the brow madame like i was a child when i would give him my body piquette stopped and then gently a woman like me madame can only worship a man like that moira was leaning against the bed-rail her head bent her eyes searching out piquette's very soul and you madame said piquette her voice gathering scorn and its very suppression you madame who love him too you listen to everything is the enemies say against him you believe these lies you let them try to kill him you help them bring you to this honor you try to keep him from saving you from disgrace what kind of a woman are you

Madame, to have a love like that throne at your feet and walk away and leave it like a dead flower upon the ground. Must he take a woman like me to show you what is fine and noble in the world? You send him away into the night. Jusiel! Is there no blood in your heart, madam? No tenderness, no pity for the love of a man like Jim Orton? Love?

You do not know. what love is you stop madame gasped moira her lips gray and trembling under the wrist that masked her eyes you dare not tell me what love is you don't know everything yes said piquette quietly i know everything but only god could keep me from the man i love yes god whispered moira tensely only god the pallor of her face the agonized clutch of her white fingers on the table and the tone of her voice silenced piquette and she glanced up at moira partly in pity partly in scorn piquette's education had not fitted her to understand the motives of women different from herself but she saw in moira's face the scars of a great passion and the marks of suffering not to be denied and so after a painful moment for Moira she turned her glance aside I cannot speak of this to you madame she heard the girl stammer you have no right to judge me but to question my motives and if I've misjudged you or Jim Horton God knows I'm sorry for it but you

madame why should you come and tell me these things Moira's breath seemed suspended while she waited for the woman's answer picket traced for a moment with her finger on the arm of the chair you may be sure it has cost me something she said slowly does he know does jim horton know no madame he knows nothing then why because said piquette rising with some dignity because it pleases me madame what jim horton wish is my wish too he love you you. And, what is to me does not matter?" Moira stared at her dully. She could not believe.

If you do not understand me, Madame, Piquette continued, it is because you do not wish to understand, because all this sacrifice he makes for you is in vain. You listen to their lies, become a partner in crime to get money. does not belong to you how do you know this harry orton your husband told me the truth harry yes madame i was a friend to your husband you the glances of the two women met held each other read each other omitting nothing it was piquet who looked away if self-abasement was to be the measure of her sacrifice she had neglected nothing and now she said quietly if you please i shall go away not yet madame said moira gently not until i tell you that i know what you have done and that i believe what you have said thank you she caught piquette by the hand and held her i cannot be less noble than you madame forgive me it is jim horton who should forgive

i have done him a great wrong and you and i must do him another great wrong you have said that only god could keep you from the man you love god has kept me from jim horton i cannot see him again but you cannot stay here madame put in piquette earnest no perhaps not wearily but yo i've taught me something if sacrifice is a test that love exacts like you i can bear it and make jim orton suffer too cried bickett wildly what for you think i tell you these things madame you must go with him to paris no i can't what will you do i don't know yet i must think you will do what he ask of you you know you must see him no don't ask me madame there was a knock upon the door into the corridor repeated quickly the two women exchanged glances moira bewildered piquette dismayed she had remained too long mquin she whispered moira a finger to her lips beckoned her toward the door into nora burke's room when there was another quick knock and quinlevin entered quickly followed by another figure moira why didn't you the irishman began and then his glance passed to piquette ah you hear madame he frowned with quick suspicion glancing toward the door into his own room and then suddenly beckoned his follower in it was m trecot bent hobbling but full of every potentiality for evil quinlevin closed and locked the door behind him putting the key into his pocket and then with a muttered injunction to his companion unbolted and opened the door into his own room and disappeared moira had scarcely time to note the villainous look the apache cast in piquette's direction when quenlivan

came striding in like a demon of vengeance. Ah, Madame Morin, he snapped. It seems as though I were just in time. What have you done with the papers? The little patches of color upon Picquette's lips and eyes seemed suddenly to grow darker in the pallor of her face, for Trico's evil face nearby was leering at her, Trico whose secrets she knew and whose secrets she had betrayed. She was horribly frightened, but she managed to control her voice as she replied steadily, What papers, monsieur? I know nothing of any papers. The papers referent to the De Votran case. Your papers, Moira, your birth certificate, and the letters which went with it. Moira stood near the door into Nora's room, pale but composed, and now she spoke bravely.

madame morin has not left this room since she came into it i know nothing of any papers piquette smiled inwardly her embassy had not been entirely without success but quinlavin glanced quickly at moira suspicion becoming a certainty oh we'll see about this and striding quickly to nora burke's door locked it securely and then to piquette you'll please accompany me into my room madame morin he said dryly perhaps monsieur tweco and i can find a way to unlock your lips piquette cast an appealing glance at moira you let madame morin go pleaded the girl to the irishman no he thundered there will be no more trickery here and you stay here too under lock and key and tell your new friend speaks the two women were helpless and they knew it already to ricol's sharp talons had closed on piquette's shoulder but with an effort at composure she shrugged him off and entered the door beside which barry quinlevin stood bowing with ironical politeness piquette caught just one glimpse of moira's white face before the door closed between them then the key was turned in the lock the other key also and she sank rather helplessly into a chair a prison

this locking of doors is a game that two persons may play at madame said quinloven easily in french our friend the deserter locks me in with m de votrins and why you rifle my papers and now i keep you prisoner until they are found where are they madame his voice was soft but even in the dim light iridescent fires played forbiddingly in his own his little eyes. Piquette was silent, her glance passing about the obscurity as though in search of a resting place. She feared Quinlavin, but more than him she feared the evil shape just beside her shoulder. She could not see Tricot, but she felt his presence. The evil leer at his lips, the bent shoulders, the vulture-like poise of his head, and the vengeance, lust burning in his little red eyes for whatever m quenlevin owed her here she knew was her real enemy the papers madame quinlevin repeated more brusquely still no reply you talk them from behind the bracket yonder what did you do with them they are gone she said quickly where that i shall not tell you she felt the claws of tricoe close upon her she felt the clause of tricoe close upon her

shoulder until she shrank with the pain but she made no sound one moment trico said the irishman there are first other ways of making madame speak release her trico obeyed of course tricot and i can search you piquette laughed search me monsieur it is your privilege i am not squeamish the irishman frowned there was no doubt that what he had proposed had no terrors for a life model but there were other means at his disposal to find out what he wished to know i should have remembered your metier madame he sneered and then our friend trico has a long memory he is not a man who forgets if you will look at him you will see that this chance meeting is much to his liking piquette did not dare to look it seems the irishman went on that the betrayal of the secrets of the small society to which you belong is a grave offence i betrayed no secrets said piquette finding her voice no one knows of the affair of the rich charon except m horton who will tell it when he is less busy no he will tell nothing trecoe is not willing to take that chance eh trico no snapped the vulture picket knows the penalty she'll pay it and if i pay it said piquette bravely you'll know no more about what has become of your papers than you do now quinlevin made a sign to trico there's something in that but i'm in no mood to be trifled with that ought to be pretty clear it is i'm not trifling then spake h'r quenlevin paused significantly piquette continued to glance around the room as though in a hope that something might happen to release her from her predicament it had now grown dark outside but her captors showed no disposition to make a light and yet it seemed impossible that they would dare

she tried to gain time and if i could tell you what has happened to the papers she asked uncertainly will you let me go yes speak and if i cannot tell you i will tell you madam you will be left here alone in this room with the good trico and as piquette shrank down into her chair he is very ingenious rascal treco never yet has he been caught by the police quinlevin stopped suddenly his gaze on the rectangle of the open window as though listening an open window he mumbled i left it so perhaps but do you go trecoe and look out perhaps there is someone below the man obeyed without a sound vanishing outside the window upon the small portico no one can help you madame quinlovin said in a threatening whisper for at my my word trico shall be quick and silent he caught piquet furiously by the wrist and twisted it what have you done with my property he asked nothing you are lying trico's silhouette appeared at the window monsieur he whispered tensely there is a man below harton said quinlevin what is he doing crawling in the bushes monsieur the clutch on piquette's arm grew tighter what did you do with the papers i burned them in the fireplace she said desperately quinlevin rushed to the hearth and struck a match examining the ashes minutely then he straightened quickly you lie madame i burn some letters here this morning the ashes are just as i left them in one stride he was at her side again a pistol in his hand he caught her roughly by the arm and she bit her lip to keep from crying out with pain. He is down there. What did you do with the papers? Answer me. Let me go.

No. What will you do? Unless you tell me the truth. Shoot him from the window. You would not dare, she whispered, in spite of her pain. The people of the hotel will investigate the police. Pah! A burglar comes along the portico. I showed him. He falls. Will you tell the truth? Are the papers of the police? Are the papers? in this room. I won't tell. Very well. And then turning to his companion at the window. What is he doing now, Tricot? He does not move. The Irish man released Piquette suddenly. A better chance for a shot then, he snapped. Here, Tricot, and he moved toward the window his weapon eloquent. Piquette sprang up despairingly.

Monsieur, she cried. For the love of God, don't shoot. I will tell. I don't. I thought so where are they quick i i he had her by the wrists now one on each side and tricot's skinny hand threatened her throat spake i i threw them out of the window she gasped it was evident that at last in her terror she had spoken the truth with an oath quinlevin threw her aside and ran to the window while tricot twisted her arm back of her his other hand at her throat. She shrieked in a last despairing effort. Go, go! And then the fingers of the Apache closed, and the sound was stifled as she fell back in a chair, helpless. Shut up, damn you, growled Quinlavin. Keep her quiet, you. Not death, you understand. We may need her. Piquette heard these things dimly. A torrent was roaring at her ears and her eyeballs seemed to be starting from her head as she fought for her breath, but the relentless fingers pressed at her windpipe.

And you, monsieur, she heard Tricot asked, I'm going down into the garden. If she speaks the truth, I'll find it out. Dimly she heard the door open and shut, and the key turned in the lock while she fought Tricot, but strong as she was, she knew that she was no match for him. His arms were like steel springs his fingers like iron but still she fought trying to make a commotion that would arouse the hotel but tricoe had pinioned her in her chair and even the dim light that came in at the open window grew black before her eyes she struggled again at the very verge of the gate of oblivion it seemed choking choking when a pain sharper than that at her throat came at her side be quiet croaked trico's voice at her ear aureil and she obeyed for death was in his voice and in his hand end of chapter eighteen chapter nineteen of the splendid outcast by george gibbs this librovoc's recording is in the public domain recording by tony oliva in the dark jim horton looked at his watch again he had kept the visitors in the apartment of m de votrins more than an hour he hurried cautiously down the stairs toward the doors of the rooms occupied by quinlevin's party there was no one in sight and so he stole along the corridor listening moira and nora burke had entered their rooms but piquette would of course be in the room of quinlavin's party there was no one in sight and so he stole along the corridor listening moira and norah burke had entered their rooms but piquette would of course be in the room of quinloven's

no sound and so he waited for a moment in the shadow of a doorway hoping at any moment to see piquette emerge reassured at the thought that the irishman at least had probably not yet come up but the suspense and inaction weighed upon him and at last moving quickly he went down the back stair and so to the office where he sought out the friend of piquette m jacques but to his disappointment he found that the man had gone off duty for the night and was probably in nice quinlevin he discovered had been seen leaving the hotel so any immediate danger from him was not to be expected jem horton was plagued with uncertainty if piquette had already succeeded in her mission he couldn't understand why she hadn't returned to her room perhaps he had missed her on the way she might have used the main stairway though under the circumstances this would not have been probable during the day he had managed to take a surreptitious survey of the rear of the hotel where the quinlevin suite was situated and it was only piquette's suggestion to keep the irishman busy while she searched his room that had dissuaded horton from an attempt to reach quinlevin's room from the outside there was a small portico at the irishman's windows which it seemed possibly could be reached by climbing a wooden trellis and a small projecting roof of an outbuilding where a rain spout rose alongside a shutter which offered a good handhold something of a venture at night but a chance if everything else failed he was sure now that he had miss picket on the way and if she had she had

been successful she was by this time safe in her room with the doors securely bolted and a push-button at hand by means of which if molested she could summon the servants of the hotel and quinlevin would hardly dare to try that because an investigation meant the police and the police meant publicity a thing to be dreaded at this time with a battle going against him nor did horton wish to make a row for piquette was a burglar nothing less and discovery meant placing her in an awkward position which would take some explaining m jaco would have been a help but there was no hope of trying to use him to intimidate quinlevin even had the frenchman been willing to take a share in so grave a responsibility so jim horton waited for a while lurking in the shadows of a small corridor near the office watching the entrance of the hotel for the irishman's return and was just about to go out of the rear door into the garden for a little investigation of his own when he heard the sounds of voices near the office and saw m de votrins dressed for travel talking to the major domo horton paused behind a column to watch and listen the duke's flushed face and gay mean proclaiming the triumph he had experienced and while he packed his clothing no doubt a short session with the brandy bottle this was m de votrins's incognito this his silent departure from the shades of his beloved monte carlo the man was a fatuous dotard not worth the pains that had been wasted upon him his account paid monsieur de vaughtrain walked toward the door where an automobile awaited him but as he was about to get into the machine a tall figure emerged from the darkness and stood beside him

a passage of words between the two men and the duke laughed a rig game monsieur the irishman horton heard him say but you have lost in a week i shall be again in paris in the hands of my avocat and then beware quenlevins shrugged and de vaughtrain got into the machine which dashed off into the darkness leaving the irishman standing uncertainly upon the step it was not until then that horton noticed that he had a companion for at that moment two figures emerged into the light and horton knew that quenlevans forces had been augmented by one for m trecoe had arrived the two men came in hurriedly as though having reached a decision and went up the stairs there'll be the devil to pay if piquetta succeeded muttered horton to himself and then in a quick afterthought and maybe a worse devil if she hasn't he waited until they had gone beyond the landing and then hurried to the rear stairway and up the two flights to the door of piquette's room aghast at his discovery she was not there nor had she been there for he struck a match and found its condition precisely that in which he had left it half an hour before he waited for a few moments then turned the corner of the corridor and went quickly toward quinlevin's door waiting for a moment and listening intently he made out the murmur of voices a man's and a woman's but he could not hear it distinctly but that the man's voice was the irishman's he did not doubt nor that the woman's was piquette's cautiously he turned the knob of the door it was locked quinlovin evidently expected him there was no chance of ingress here unless quinlevin permitted it the irishman had the irishman had the

law on his side if Horton persisted Quinlevin could shoot him which was what he wished to do with every prospect of acquittal in any trouble that might follow horton waited here only a moment and then ran quickly down the stairs pass some guests on their way to the casino and out into the garden at this hour of the night it was dark for the dining-rooms were up on the other side and the smoking and billiard rooms were deserted glancing toward the well-lighted promenade just beyond the hedge he stole along the walls of the hotel beneath the windows of the first floor using the deeper shadows until he reached a palm-tree from the shelter of which he carefully scrutinized the faade of the building identifying the windows and portico of the room of quinlevin then went nearer to a clump of bushes beneath the portico where he'd crowd to listen for any sounds that might come from above silence except for the distant murmuring of the surf among the rocks below the casino he tried to believe that the voice he had heard through the door upstairs was not picketts that it might have been moira's or norah burke's but if it was not picket's voice then where was she and why had she stayed so long venturing Quinlivan's wrath at her intrusion there seemed to be no doubt that she had overstayed the allotted time and that now they had come in upon her the Irish man and the

rascal trecoe she was in for a bad half-hour perhaps something worse but Horton reassured himself with the thought that Quinlavin desired to keep the tale of his hazard of new fortune a secret they would not dare to do physical harm to piquette in a hotel which had its name for respectability they would not dare to risk her outcries which if damaging to herself would be doubly damaging to bery quinlevin so horton crouched in the center of his hiding-place and uncertainly waited sure that if she was in danger, his place was now beside Piquette, who had played a game with death for him in the house in the Rue Charon. He glanced up at the trellis just beside him, planning the ascent, and as he did so he noticed a small object hanging among the twigs just above his head. It was

within reach of his hand, and he took it a letter or a slip of paper somewhat rump, he fingered and then looked at it but it was too dark to see near him upon the turf was another square of paper and a letter further off another and another hanging in the opposite side of the bush in his hands idly he fingered the letter the paper was fine and it bore an embossed heading or crest he was about to throw it aside when he looked up for the wall of the building at the portico outside barry quinlevin's windows realizing with a sudden sense of his discovery that these papers had fallen from the windows of the second floor or those of the third quinlevens of course they were unimportant and yet he started to his feet and looked around elsewhere so far as he could see the garden was scrupulously neat the pride of a gardener who was well paid to keep up the traditions of this fairyland horton bent over searching and found another paper even more rumpled than the others he glanced up at the windows on the third floor there was no sign of occupancy for though one of the windows was open both were still dark but he waited a moment listening and for he waited a moment listening and fancied that he heard the low murmur of voices then a dull glow as though someone had made a light for a cigarette but the papers in his fingers he realized with a growing excitement that they were quite dry to the touch and had not therefore been long exposed to the damp sea air had piquette not daring to strike a light he turned and crept quickly back to the light of the hallway

and here behind the door he read the papers quickly their meaning flashed through his consciousness with a shock a letter from m de vaughtran a receipt for money and the crumpled paper a square printed document bearing the now familiar name of patricia madeleine ol'lne aulde de votrins the birth certificate upon which all berry quinlevin's fortunes hung and moira's he could not take time to investigate the characters of the handwriting for the light was dim and the real significance of his discovery was not to be denied no one but piquet would have thrown such papers out of the window into the garden nor would she have done so desperate a thing unless she had found herself at bay with no other means of disposing of them he reasoned this out for himself while he thrust the dust documents safely into an inner pocket and crept quickly back to his place beneath the windows searching as he went upon the ground for any other papers that might have escaped him there was no time to spare piquette was up there he was sure of it now otherwise why hadn't she escaped and run down to recover the documents before quinlevin's return with but why had she thrown them from the window unless their presence threatened these and other speculations were to remain unanswered for if piquette were in that room alone with the two men her danger was great there was a slight sound from above he peered upward in silhouette against the sky was the figure of a man he couldn't tell whether trico or the irishman

it was to be a desperate game then they had just guessed what piquette had done with the birth certificate and there seemed not the slightest hope that the man on the portico could have failed to see his figure below the thin screen of winter foliage desperate yes but worth it for piquette he owed it to her and as in moments of great danger he found himself suddenly cold with purpose and thinking with extraordinary lucidity quenlevin would not dare to shoot him out of hand without a cause but to catch a man climbing the wall of his hotel into the window of his room that would be a sufficient reason for an obvious act of self-defense and yet had quinlevin considered the possibility of horton's attempting so dangerous a climb if not the element of surprise might be in jim horton's favor but there was to be no choice for horton for as he stood measuring the height of the trellis from the window above he heard a stifled voice crying his his name jim it called go go he ran to the trellis and climbed it easily putting his revolver in an outer pocket as he reached the friendly roof of the little outbuilding crouching behind a projection of the wing and gazing upward for a further sight of m treacle he thought he

heard sounds now the creaking of furniture and the growl of a masculine voice other sounds terrible more significant they were choking her de them cowards scorning further secrecy he measured with his eye the distance he would have to spring for a handhold on the window-sill of the window above him the water-pipe his main hope upon investigation proving unreliable the window-sill which was his objective was at least two feet above his outstretched arms and to the left beyond the edge of the projection on which he stood it was not above him and he would have to leap sideways from the roof risking a drop of at least twenty feet to the menacing stone flagging of a path which led to the kitchen entrance but he leaped upward and out into the dark his fingers clutching swinging for a second above of vacancy and then hauled himself up until he got a handhold on the hinge of the open shutter then a knee on the sill pushing the french window which yielded to his touch he hoped the room was unoccupied but had no time to consider that possibility straightening and climbing the shutter quinloven's portico was within his reach now he waited cautiously for a second listening and peering up no sign of anyone outside but the sounds within he heard them again now fainter horribly suppressed he caught the edge of the portico and swung himself up close to the wall of the building and in a moment had gained a safe foothold within the railing there was no light within the room and now no sound had they in the brief moment he paused gasping for his breath he was

aware of a figure below moving cautiously along the outskirts of the garden he crouched below the balustrade instinctively it was just at this moment that the cautious head and shoulders of a man emerged from the french window to peer over it was tricoe like a cat horton sprang for him and the impact of the shock sent them both sprawling half in half out of the room neither made a sound each aware of the hazard of his situation horton struck and struck again felt the sharp scratch of m treco's knife upon his shoulder and caught the wrist of the hand that held it twisting twisting until the weapon dropped clattering just within the door of the room but the frenchman was strong and struggled upward kicking biting until horton with his right arm free struck him under the jaw that took him some of the fight out of him, but he still fought gamely, while Horton, whose blood was hot now, wondered why Quinlavin hadn't joined in the entertainment. Tricot, in desperation, tried to reach for another weapon with the arm Horton hadn't pinioned, and it was about time to end the matter. A memory of the night in the Rue Charon was behind Horton's blow, which struck M. Tricot neatly behind the ear and sent him sprawling out onto the portico where his head came into contact with the cement balustrade and he fell and lay silent

horton took no chances kicking the knife a cruel two-edged affair into the fireplace and appropriating m treco's revolver which he put into the other pocket of his coat then turned to look for quinlevin he didn't find him but piquette who was there, prone in the armchair, and gasping horribly for her breath. Biquette, it's Jim, he whispered. Her swollen tongue refused her, but her fingers clutched his hand. They choked you, Biquette. Tricot! She managed to utter painfully. I've attended to him. Where's Quinlivan? She pointed, soundless, toward the door. He went down to look for me, he questioned. She nodded. Good, laughed Jim. We'll be ready, when he comes back he went out and had another look at trico the man was out of it and there was a dark shadow on the stone work where he had fallen so horton came back into the room found a pitcher of water with which he bathed piquette's forehead and throat and then gave her to drink and in a moment she was able to enunciate more clearly but she was very weak and it seemed that her nerve was gone for her shoulders shook with her hysteria and she clung to Horton still in terror of her frightful experience but Horton was taking no chances now and did the thinking and talking for them both you're sure Quindlevin went down to look for me he asked again

yes mon ami Tricot he saw you below in the garden he knows you throughout the papers yes into the garden not now said Horton in my pocket you found him yes you mersey it's what I I hope but we mustn't lose them again now piquette after all this is the door locked I I don't know I horton strode to the door and turned the key now let him come he whispered grimly and then where's Moira he asked lock in her room yonder you saw her yes m'jim but she must have heard all this commotion i don't know he paused a moment glanced at the door into the corridor and then crossed quickly to the door picket indicated knocking softly there was no reply moira he said through the keyhole it's i jim he seemed to hear sounds within a gasp a movement of feet and then silence moira it's jim there was no sound so he unbolted the door and turned the knob it was locked on the inside a gasp from piquet who had been listening for sounds at the other door now warned him to be quiet and he straightened there were footsteps outside and then

a knock. Tricot, said the Irishman's voice. Let me in. Quickly, whispered Horton into Piquette's ear. In the chair and gasped like hell. She understood and obeyed him. Horton went to the door, turned the key, and Barry Quinlavin strode in. He's gone, Tricot, the papers, too. So was Quinlevin. The door closed behind him and a wiry arm went around his throat from behind, a knee in the middle of his back, and he crumpled backward in Horton's strong arms down to the floor, where in spite of his struggles, Horton held him powerless, quickly disarming him, his weight on the astonished Irishman's chest, his fingers at the man's throat, gently pressing with a threat of greater power at the slightest sound.

the achievement was ridiculously easy as all important things are given some intelligence and a will to do mr quinlevin at this point had come to realize that the purely psychological stage of his venture had passed into the realm of the physical in which he was no match for this young hercules who had so easily mastered him and tricoe outside upon the balcony was a shadow that had not been there before the game was up and so he resorted to diplomacy which was indeed the only thing left to him well horton he uttered yevon not yet quenlevin said horton grimly and then to piquette who had stopped gasping and already showed a lively interest in the proceedings the sheets from the bed piquette if you please she obeyed and helped him while they swathed their prisoner from head to foot binding and gagging him with his own cravats and other articles of apparel which they found adaptable to the purpose and then between them lifted him to the bed where he lay a helpless clod of outraged dignity then they turned their attention to m who as they dragged him by the heels into the room already showed signs of returning consciousness binding him first reviving him afterward of the two trico was now the least quiescent but he understood the touch of horton's revolver at his temple and in a moment lay like quinlevin writhing in his bonds but quite as helpless and now quinlevin said horton coolly it must be fairly obvious to you that the fraud you've practised at the expense of madame horton is now at an end the documents upon which you rely are in my pocket where they will remain until they are turned over to monsieur de

in the morning you and your brave companion will doubtless be released by the servants of the hotel by which time i hope to be in another part of france he stopped with a shrug at the sound of piquette's voice we must not stay too long jean orton some one may come madame horton he muttered and went over to the door of moira's room and listened there was no sound moira he said again distinctly through the keyhole will you unbolt the door a small sound of footsteps moving but they did not come toward the door moira he repeated more loudly you must let me in we are going away from here at once no reply it is as i suppose jim orton whispered pickett at his ear she does not wish to come what do you mean he asked i saw her jim she whispered i talk with her it is hopeless i do not think she will come she is afraid afraid of me he muttered incredulously i not of you mon vieu returned piquette of herself i don't understand picket shrugged try again then jim orton he did to no avail there was now no sound from within in reply to his most earnest entreaties something must have happened to her he mumbled straightening with a glance toward the bed if i thought but no piquette broke in quickly nothing has happened to her mon jim she is quite safe i'm not so sure about that and putting his weight against the door he tried to force it in. It yielded a trifle, but the slender bolt held. He waited a moment,

listening again, silencing Piquette's whispered protestations at the commotion he was creating, but heard nothing. Then, moving away a few paces, he pushed the door with his full weight, and it flew open with a crash, almost throwing him to the floor. The room was empty, but the unlocked door leading into Nora Burke's room showed which way she had gone. He went in and looked around. Then out into the corridor by Nora's door, there were some people at the other end of the corridor, but Moira and her Irish nurse had disappeared. Uncertainly, he came back through the rooms to Piquet, who stood in Moira's room, watching the prisoners through the doorway. said, Monjim,

Madame does not wish to go with you. But why? After all, have I not told you? She is afraid of herself. She knows as I know. She is a woman who loves, but not as I love,

Monjim. It is Her God that stand between you. Her God, stronger than you, and what you are to her. She is afraid. She knows. if she touched your and she will go with you whatever happens what makes you think that muttered horton bewildered she told me so you i saw her talk with her

that is why i wait too long until m quinglevin came horton paused thinking deeply i must find her piquette she's got to go with us he murmured starting toward the door away from her but piquette caught him by the hand no jean you mustn't do you think you can find her where and if you do your friend m Quinlivan will be discovered and they will put you in the jail let them I've got to take her away she's helpless with him penniless if she deserts him not so helpless as you think but she does not want to see you is not that enough no he said trying to shake loose her clutch on his arm i'll find her shim pickett pleaded desperately you will spoil all the could you do what does it matter if you find her or not if you lose the paper to quinlevin again you must go away now before it is too late and make quinlevin powerless to hurt her again then mon jim

when her future is safe you self-find her what does it matter now in time she will come to you i know you shall find her and i piquet will help you she felt his arm relax and knew that she had won he stared for a long moment toward the open door into nora's room then turned with a quick gasp of decision you're right piquette we've got to get away to-day today draw his claws for good. Perfectment. You need not worry. E will not hurt air now. And so they returned to the Irishman's room and looked carefully to the bonds of the prisoners.

Nothing was disarranged. They had done their work well, and continued it by methodically making all arrangements for departure, shutting the French window, putting an extra turn on the bindings of the prostrate men. who glared at them sullenly in the obscurity then they went out locking all three rooms from the outside and leaving the keys in the doors unobserved they went up to their rooms packed their belongings descended to the office where jim coolly paid their bills and went out into the night there was a garage near by where they hired a car paying for it in advance and in less than twenty minutes jim horton driving were on their way to vente mille on the border line between france and italy there they left the machine in the care of a hotel and wrote a postcard to the owner of the garage at monte carlo telling him where he would find his machine this message they knew would not reach him until some time the next day by which time

they would be lost in Italy. End of chapter 19. Chapter 20 of the splendid outcast by George Gibbs. This Libravox recording is in the public domain, recording by Tony Oliva. Freedom Meanwhile, Destiny was at her loom weaving with careless hand. the american and french armies were moving closer to the rhine but the infantry regiment to which harry horton belonged lay at chateau dix awaiting orders there harry went upon the morning following the return of barry quinlevin from ireland upon his breast he wore the croix de guerre but in his soul was a deathly sickness the inward

reflection of the physical discomfort with which he had awakened the prospect that lay before him was not to his liking the period during which he had been out of uniform the weeks of secrecy of self-indulgence and abasement had marked him for their own and unfitted him for the rigorous routine of discipline that awaited him and so he faced the ordeal with a positive distaste for his old associations aware of a sinking feeling in his breast that was not entirely the result of his heavy potations while in paris he felt the burden of his failure and a terror that he would not be able to live up to the record jim horton had made for him there would be no more fighting perhaps but always beside him there would stalk the spectre of his military sin of which the metal at his breast was to be the perpetual reminder on the train down from paris the metal and its colorful bit of green and red seemed to fill the whole range of his vision d the thing he tore it off and put it in his pocket and then somewhat relieved sank back into his seat and tried to doze but his nerves were most uncertain every sound even the smallest seemed to beat with an unpleasant staccato upon his eardrums and he started up and gazed out of the window trying to soothe himself with tobacco that helped but he knew that what he wanted was stronger drugging whiskey or brandy needed it indeed to exercise the demons that inhabited him

and the thought of the difficulties that would lie in the way of getting what he craved to-day tomorrow and the long days and nights that were to follow still further unmanned him before moira had left for nice he had given her his promise to report for duty fit and sober and he had put his will to the task aware that the first impression he created with his colonel was to be important it was for this reason that he did not dare to open his valise and touch the bottles hidden there because he knew that one drink would not be enough to soothe either his nerves or the dull pangs of his weary conscience that he had a conscience he had discovered in the house in the rue charon when the desire of m trecoe and le sage to put jim horton out of the way for good had brought him face to face with the evil image of himself he hated his brother jim as much as ever because he was all the things that harry was not but the plans of quinlevin which seemed to stop at nothing not even moira herself now filled him with dread and repugnance his nerve was gone that was it his nerve his nerve his nerve but a rival at regimental headquarters restored him for a while his colonel gave him a soldierly welcome fingered with some envy the croix de guerre which harry had pinned on his breast again before leaving the railroad and summoned harry's major whose greeting left nothing to be desired and for the moment it almost seemed to harry as though he might be able to put it over but the next day was difficult he managed a drink early and that kept him going for a while but they gave him his company in the morning and from that moment the intimate contact with those who had known him began

a lieutenant he had never liked a sergeant who was a psychologist and a familiar face here and there associated unpleasantly with the long weary days of training and preparation until the regiment had been worked up into the advanced position but his long sickness in the hospital and his unfamiliarity with recent orders served him well for excuse and the quade de guerre upon his his breast served him better. A corporal and a sergeant with whom in the old days he had had nothing in common, each of whom wore decorations, came up to him saluting, and reported that it was they who had carried him back to the dressing station from the rocks at Wossier Wood. He shook them by the hands with a cordiality which did not disguise from himself. The new terror, and when they attempted a of the recital of the events of the great fight in which they had shared he blundered helplessly for a while and then cut the interview short pleading urgent affairs then too there was the nasty business of the wounds he hadn't any he was scatheless he had tried the ruse of the adhesi tape on moira with disastrous effect here the result of the discovery of his unblemished skin would prove still more disastrous and so at once he discouraged familiarity kept to his billet and attempted with all the courage left to him to put through his daily round with all credit to his new office but it irked him horribly

his supply of strong drink did not last long and the thin red wines the only substitute procurable were merely a source of a source of a sort of a short drink did not last long and the thin red wines the only substitute procurable were merely a source of irritation and there were others in his company of whose approbation he was not at all certain there was the sergeant who had had the platoon that had been caught with his own in the wheat-field there were four or five men of one of his own squads who had been close beside him in the same wheat-field when he had been taken ill and they had left him face to face with a grinning head of the hated Levinsky and there was the late Levinsky's own buddy while who had sometimes shared in Harry's reprobation while annoyed him most perhaps with his staring fishy eye and his hebrake nose so similar to that of his lamented tentmate wyle had been in the wheatfield and his heavy face seemed to conceal a malevolent omniscience

the large staring eyes followed the new captain of infantry inquisitive accusing and contemptuous whenever corporal wile came within the range of harry's vision their glances seemed at once to meet and hold each other and it was the captain who always looked away wiles fishy eye fascinated and haunted him he saw it by day dreamed of it by night and he cursed the man in his heart with a fury that did nothing for his composure one day as harry was making his way to mess he came upon corporal wile standing at ease just out of his composure his billet the man's eye seemed more round more fishy and his demeanor more contemptuous than ever the last of the whisky was gone harry horton's heart was behaving queerly within him and muscles with which he was unfamiliar announced their existence in strange twitchings the breakfast coffee would help in the meanwhile he glared at corporal wile his fists clenched what the h do you mean by staring at me all the time he asked wyle came to attention and saluted in excellent form i beg pardon sir i don't understand he said why the h do you stare at me i didn't know that i did stare sir yes you did cut it out it annoys me but corporal wyle still stared as the regulations demand looking his captain square in the eye and the captain's gaze wavered and fell when i'm about he ordered you look some other way understand yes sir i understand said wile saluting again as harry turned away but still staring at him and harry felt the fishy stare

more than ever omniscient more than ever contemptuous in the middle of his back all the way down the road to mess but he had just enough of self-control to refrain from looking around at the object of his fury and at mess a disagreeable surprise awaited him in the person of a medical who had just joined the outfit the new captain had barely finished his coffee when he found himself addressed by the officer a major who set just opposite him at table how are you captain horton asked the man cordially extending a hand across didn't recognize you at first how's the head harry stammered something i'm wellby looked after you down at nighi you know oh yes said harry of course glad to see you again major things were a bit hazy down there eh yes rather said harry delicate operation that touch and go for a while but you came through all o k delusions thought you were another man or something oh yes said harry faintly but i'm all right glad to hear it how's the head fine no more pains no delusions no sir i'd like to have a squint at the wound presently if you don't mind interesting case very harry rose suddenly his face the color of ashes Sorry, sir, he muttered, I've got a lot to do now, later perhaps, and then without a word took up his cap and fled incontinently from the room.

There were but two other officers present, but they stared at him as he went out, for the conversation across the table had drawn attention. Hmm, remarked the major into his coffee cup. Surly, chap, that? Considering I saved his life, quadrigre, I see. Yes, sir, I. I'm. Yes, sir. said a lieutenant just joined up worried maybe not much worried about me apparently said the major harry went straight out to his billet locked the door of his room and sank on the edge of his bed the situation was horrible this man of all men who had seen jim horton through the hospital suppose out of professional curiosity the fool came nosing around was well-beenow with the regiment harry cursed himself for the hurry of his departure would the man suspect anything hardly but harry couldn't take a chance like that again a second refusal of the major's request would surely make him an object of suspicion and the wound in the shoulder there was none dee them all why couldn't they leave him alone he couldn't face the thing out it was too dangerous already he had had enough of it and yet what was he to do yesterday he had thought he read suspicion of him in other men's eyes they seemed to strip him naked those hundreds of eyes to be gazing at the white uninjured flesh where his wounds should have been

all this in a week only and what was to happen in the many weeks to follow if this fool wellby had come why wouldn't there be other men of the regiment of the battalion who had been at the hospital at neighi also they would catch him in a false statement force him into a position from which he could not extricate himself and then what the major the colonel what answer could he give them if they asked to see his wounds to harry's overwrought imagination the whole army seemed joined in a conspiracy to bring about his ruin to go about his work seemed impossible but to feign illness meant the visit of a doctor perhaps well be himself he would have to go on at least for the day and then perhaps he would think of something resignation a transfer to some other unit he managed to put through the day still wondering why men looked at him so strangely was there anything the matter with his appearance in the afternoon the youngest of his lieutenants approached him kindly hadn't you better take a run down to the hospital sir he asked you look all in harry stared at him stupidly for a moment oh i'm all right just a little stomach upset the youngster saluted and disappeared and harry went back to his quarters there was no wonder that he looked all in he hadn't dared to go to the mess table since morning and he hadn't had a drink since yesterday tobacco had ceased to have the desired effect upon his nerves he felt like jumping out of his skin the thing couldn't go on he was all in a short leave of absence which might give him time to pull himself together meant being gone over by a doctor

it meant showing his scarless shoulder impossible there was only one thing to do to quit while there was time to quit while there was time time before the truth came out the more he thought of his situation the more clearly this course seemed indicated to disappear silently in the night it could be managed and when he didn't come back perhaps they would think that the wound in his head was troubling him again and that he was not responsible for what he did or that he had met with foul play they could think anything they chose long as they didn't guess the truth and they could never learn the truth unless they examined his body for the wounds but they would never find him to do that if he ever got safely back of the lines he had managed it before he could do it again now because he wouldn't have to trust to blind luck as he had done back of boisier wood the more he thought of his plan the more he became obsessed with it at any rate it was an obsession which would banish the other obsession of the watching eyes it was the dark he craved the security and blessed immunity of darkness darkness and solitude he wouldn't wait for the ordeal of the morrow to-night and so driven by all the enemies of his tortured mind and planning with all the craft of a guilty conscience he arranged all things to suit his purpose passing beyond the village with the avowed purpose of visiting a friend in another unit and then losing himself in the thicket he traveled afoot all night using his map and making for the railroad at st covres

and in the early morning breakfasted at a farmhouse telling a story of having lost his way and craving a bed for a few hours sleep he was well provided with money and his host was hospitable he slept a while awoke and no one being about searched the house for what he sought he found it in a wardrobe upstairs a suit of clothing which would serve and leaving some money on a table made off without ceremony into the thicket covering a mile or so in a hurry across country when he found a disused building in which he tore off his uniform and donned the borrowed clothing leaving his own including its quad de gerv under a truss of straw it grew dark again but he did not care in a village he managed by paying well to find a bottle of coniard his care slipped from him nothing mattered not even the rain his soul was set free he paid for a good lodging and slept warm inside and out purchased the next day a better suit of clothing and then boldly boarded a train for paris it was extraordinary how easily his liberty had been accomplished they would look for him of course the m p would bustle about but but he had given them the slip all right and they would never find him in paris paris for a while and then a new land where no questions would be asked curiously enough the only human being he seemed to think about to regret in what he had done was moira his thoughts continually reverted to the expression on her face the night that jim had surprised them in the studio its agony its apprehension

so nearly depicted the very terrors that had been in his own soul he remembered hazily too that she had been kind to him when quinlevin had left him there to watch her and he had finished the bottle of irish whiskey then too again in the morning she had awakened him and started him upon his way back to his post while the expression of her face had shown that she was trying to do her duty to him, even when her own heart was breaking. She had had the thought that even at this last moment he still had an opportunity to make good. He felt that Moira, his wife in name only, would know the pain of his failure. Quinlivan would sneer, Jim would shrug, but Moira would weep and pray in vain. He had taken. He had cared for moira in his strange selfish way permitted quinlevin to use him for his own purposes hoping for the fortune that would bring ease and luxury for them all and with it a glamour that he might turn to his own account and win the girl to a fulfilment of their marriage vows but jim had dashed the cup from his lips jim his hero brother now like himself an out-calfour

So there were to be two of them, then, after all, it served him right de-him. Harry Horton found a malicious pleasure in the situation. If he wasn't to have her, Jim shouldn't either. He wasn't going to give his brother the pleasure of reading his death notice in the morning paper. He, Harry Horton, would just go on living whatever happened, and he knew that without the evidence of his death, Moira would never marry again. He had gathered in a cloudy way

the general meaning of the visit to the Duke de Votrins at Nice and had wondered at Moira's consent to go with Quinlavin on such a mission after what she must have heard that night. But he had been in no humor to ask questions the next morning and knew nothing whatever as to the prospects of success for the undertaking. It looked very much as though, with Jim Horton in on the game, the mission was dubious. And yet Quinlavin might succeed if he did.

There would be enough money to stake Harry in a new life in some distant part of the world. This was the price that they would pay for immunity, and Harry would go. he knew now that moira was not for him she had settled that matter definitely the night when he had come in drunk from the richardons he reached paris and lost himself in montmartre avoiding the old haunts there he found new acquaintances and many bottles to soothe the awakening pangs many bottles moments of lucidity how long would it be before moira and Quinloven returned to the Rue de Taven. He would have to sober up. Things weren't bad at all now. What difference did it make to anyone but himself what he did or what he became? It was his own life to do what he pleased with. And it pleased him to do what he was doing with it. He laughed at the amusing inversion. Good joke, that. But he would have to go down to the studio.

in the rue de tavern and talk things over no use quarreling with quinlevin everything amiable and friendly number seven rue de if moira wasn't there he'd go in and wait her studio his too perhaps a little of the irish whiskey and a doze end of chapter twenty chapter twenty one of the splendid outcast by George Gibbs. This Librovox recording is in the public domain, recording by Tony Oliva. The Petit Bleu. The road to Paris was long, by the way Jim Horton and Piquette had chosen, but without mishap, they came through Geneva and Lyon, reaching their destination at the end of the second day. Of the further adventures of Monsieur Berri Quentin, lavin and his apostle tricoe they had learned nothing though they had scanned all the newspapers upon their way for any echoes of the adventure at the hotel de paris jim horton had spoken little of moira but as they neared their journey's end the birth certificate and other papers still secure in jim's inner pocket he was sure that however difficult and painful his decision to desert moira at the critical

moment, Piquette's counsel had been wise. Moira had fled from him, and he knew now that her convictions had laid a barrier between them which no further effort that he could make would ever pass. Pity he felt for her, deep and abiding, for she was so helpless and now more than ever alone. But he had done his duty as he had seen it, drawn Quinlivan's sense. sting and open moira's eyes to his perfidy throwing a light along the path into which that perfidy was leading her he and piquette had tried to picture events in the hotel at monte carlo after their flight the helpless men lying in the dark awaiting the morning moira's probable return with nora burke and their liberation as to what moira would do after that they could not decide her flight to Paris without money seemed impossible and yet for her to remain with her spurious father after this awakening seemed also impossible. Piquette had related to him parts of her conversation with the

girl and Horton had listened, aware of Piquette's motives and the hopeless impediments to the success of her efforts. Piquette spoke no more of love, nor did Jim Horton revive the topic which had given him a more awkward half an hour than he had ever spent in his life but he showed her by every act a consideration that touched her deeply and made the friendship that she asked of him a sacred thing to them both what the future held for him was yet to be fully revealed but as yet he could not see it clearly with the collapse of quinlevin's scheme it was probable that all the vials of his wrath would be turned upon Horton who would be denounced to the military authorities no matter what happened to his unfortunate brother Harry it was necessary therefore until the birth certificate and the evidence of Horton and Piquette was all placed with Monsieur de Votrins legal representative that Horton remain hidden and that Piquette avoid all contact with her friends of the cartier it seemed also the

part of prudence for piquette to remain for a while away from her apartment keeping in touch with her maid who would bring her clothing and letters to a designated place it would have been much more sensible to have killed trico laughed horton when they were established in rooms in his obscure lodging in the rue jean pole he'll come poking about with a brand-new knife and revolver and then we'll have the devil to pay all over again i'm not sure said piquette we'll take no chances and when this business is finished if m de vaughtrant doesn't do his duty by you i'd like to take you away from paris piquette where m'jim he shrugged to america where else but she shook her head like a solemn child no mon pete you will not wish to be taking me to america one cannot change one destiny like that you shall not hang me like a millstone around your neck my place is here in paris where i am born and if the bone-dieu will where i shall die as for you

mon ami all will be well the vraigamin is born with the what you call second sight it is i piquet who say this to you he glanced at her curiously aware of an air of fatalism in her words and manner how piquette he laughed she shrugged i don't know but i believe you sell be happy yet with her you mean he asked not a chance picket that's done but if i can help her yes you shall help her mon ami i know he smiled gently and then thoughtfully lighted a pipe you got cassandra beaten by a mile my little Piquette Cassandra the greatest little guesser in all history but she guessed right and I guess right too mon you see he smiled then I wish you'd guess what's happened to your silly friend of Otrane silly she laughed that's a good word mon ami and then shrugged he will come one day in a week until we sit cooling our heels with our evidence all okay burning our fingers

if he doesn't arrive tomorrow i'm going to find his avocat they had examined the birth certificate with a magnifying glass and there was not a doubt that the final a of patricia had been added to patrice also that the word male had been changed to female by the addition of the prefix with nora burke as quinlevin's only witness and horton and piquette to oppose her there would not be the slightest difficulty in disposing of very quinlevin's pretensions but horton still worried much about the fate of moira for it was difficult for him to conceive of her resumption of the old relations with the irishman and yet it could not be long before quinlevin returned to paris and what would be moira's fate unless she accompanied him to the rue de tavin perhaps she was there now already for days had elapsed since the flight from the riviera and of course there had been ample time for quinlevin and his illy assorted company to return horton wanted to go to the rue de tavenne and try to learn what it happened but piquette advised against it until the responsibility for the papers was shifted to de vauc-train she did not think it wise for him to take any risk of danger jim horton demurred but when he saw how much in earnest she was he consented to remain in hiding a few days longer and late the following afternoon m de vaughtran not yet having returned and while they still waited an astonishing thing happened for picket's maid under cover of nightfall as was the arrangement brought the letters from the boulevard clichy and among them was a petit bleu addressed to jim hortezed

He picked it up gingerly in his fingers as though it had been dynamite and curiously scrutinized the envelope. It augured badly for his security in Paris if many people knew so readily where he was to be found. De Votrins, perhaps, or he tore the envelope open quickly, Piquet looking over his shoulder. It was in French, of course, and he read, shall be alone rue de tavern to-night eight forgive and don't fail moira he read the lines over and over piquette helping him to translate and stood a moment as though transfixed by its significance forgive that was the word that stood out in black letters what had come over her did this mean that driven to desperation by the situation in which she had found herself she had been forced to against her will to plead with him for sanctuary or was it help that she needed whatever the real meaning of the message there was no doubt in jim horton's mind as to where his duty lay

but piquette was already questioning celeste rapidly when did this petit blue arrive not an hour ago madam you are sure quies madam positive i myself received it from the messenger very well celeste you will return to the apartment and if any other message arrives be sure to bring it at once yes madam and be sure to take the roundabout way and be sure that you are not followed yes madame when the woman departed piquette took the blue slip from jim horton's fingers and set by the gaslight rereading it slowly and thoughtfully i must go of course piquette said jim quietly yes mon ami you must go and yet there are some things I don't understand what pickett it is strange this sudden change of mind of Madame Horton she replied she wants me needs me said Jim unaware of the pain he caused pickett shrugged I could have told you that at Monte Carlo if she's said dryly but to ask you to come to her it's different that and yet she has done it the character of madame has changed a great deal in a few days mon

jim something must have happened her position think of it piquette i do it is most unpleasant but i think you would be the very last person she would send for who then picket i she rose and handed him his message you must go she said with a shrug and there is not much time but with your permission she asked firmly i will go with you you picket he stammered dubiously but she smiled at him ah mon vieuil i sell not intrude you know that nispa but madame he stammered dubiously but she smiled at him ah mon vieuil i shall not intrude you know dat nis pa but madame horton and i we understand each other perhaps i can help her too and where could she go unless to de boulevard jim horton stood speechless for a moment and then slowly i hadn't thought of that he muttered they dined and then piquette went to her room to put on her hat while jim horton sat watching the clock which ticked off the minutes before their departure of course moira's appeal for forgiveness was only the weary cry of a heart sick with disappointment a cry for sanctuary from the dreaded evils that encompassed her but he would not permit himself to believe that it meant any new happiness for him except the mere joy that he would find in doing her a service what he hoped was that at last she had decided to permit to permit her to permit her to permit her to her him to take her away from quinlevin with that he would be content must be content for the thing that separated them was stronger than her will or his there's no divorce but death her words came to him again

the weary tones with which she had uttered them and he realized again that there was no hope for her or for him even if his will were stronger than hers he must not use it to coerce her when piquette joined him they went forth by a circuitous way toward the rue de tavern to be certain that they were not recognized they avoided the populous streets and chose narrow byways shadowed and unfamiliar their coat collars turned up their hats pulled well down over their eyes while Horton strode beside her saying nothing to see Moira to speak to her to take her away from the rogue who had for so long held her in his thrall. As they turned into the Rue de Tavenne Horton glanced at his watch. It was some moments before the appointed hour. Under a gas lamp, he glanced at Piquet. He thought that she seemed pale, that her dark eyes burned with a deeper intensity that she was compact of suppressed emotions as though she were driven forward upon her feet by a power beyond her control and something of her tenseness seemed curiously communicated to him was it that piquette knew that the spell that bound her to him was to be broken to-night that the strange and wonderful friendship that she had found was to be dissipated by a new element? Why had she chosen to come with him, insisted on it even? And the rapt, eager-absorbed look he had seen upon her face made him almost ready to believe that she had in her

something of the seer and prophetess at which he had been pleased to jest. He knew that she was game physically spiritually and that she could walk into the face of danger and suffering to do him a service it almost seemed as though she had chosen to come with him tonight because it was her final act of self-abnegation to bring jim and moira together to help the woman he loved to security if not to happiness as they neared the familiar gate of madame tupin horton was conscious of a sense of grave responsibility it was the same feeling that had come to him there in the trench before the advance upon the eminence of great events the splendid possibilities of success the dire consequences of failure a hazard of some kind with happiness or misery for many as the stake at the corner piquette suddenly caught him by the elbow and held him wait mon ami she whispered wait he looked down at her in surprise at the sudden pause in her eager footsteps. Why, Piquette, he asked. I, I don't know, Monjim, she muttered breathlessly, one hand to her heart. I don't know. Something tell me to wait. Do you want to go back? He asked.

No, no. What then? I can't tell you. Just a feeling that you should not go. I am not sure. But I don't understand. Nor I, Monjim. She laughed. Have I not told you. de vre gamin hath second sight forgive me you think i am foolish but it is here in my heart you do not want me to go to her piquette he asked yes to her mon jim se bien is it not for that which i come she hesitated for another long moment jim watching her and then raised her head like some wild creature sniffing at the breeze she said we shall go now he smiled at her mood and they went on piquette making no further protest and reached the gate of madame tupin where they paused for a moment the loge was dark and the gate was open this was unusual but horton remembered that sometimes madame tupin and her pretty daughter went together for visits in the neighborhood two men were chatting under the lamp in the courtyard but so absorbed in their own affair that they gave no attention to the visitors who entered the building and slowly climbed the stairs so familiar to jim and so suggestive of the greatest joy and the greatest misfortune he had ever known piquette followed him one step behind clinging to the tail of his overcoat they met no one a light showed beyond a transom on the second floor the odor of a cigarette was wafted to them and the sound of a voice softly singing

there was no other studio apartment on the third floor but moiris and they mounted the steps softly on tiptoe peering upward into the obscurity for signs of illumination that would proclaim occupancy. But they could see no light, but the reflection of the cold starlit sky which came through a window on the stair and outlined the rail and baluster. Is there no light? asked Piquette in a voice which, in spite of itself, seemed no more than a whisper. I can't see any yet, muttered Jim. And then as his head came in line with the floor, he pointed upward above the door the transom showed ah il la she gasped falling into her native tongue unconsciously silently they mounted and jim knocked upon the door there was no reply he knocked more loudly silence again then he put his hand on the knob and turned it the door yielded and they entered picket peering curiously over his shoulder and around the room the gaslight turned low cast a dim light over the room the corners were bathed in shadow and horton's gaze swept them eagerly while he moved here and there

the familiar chairs the couch by the big window the easel with its canvas the draperies the lay figure seemed to be all as when he had seen them last but there was no one there the studio was empty with piquet close at his side, he went to the door of the kitchenette. It was locked and the key was in the door. It had been fastened from the studio side. That's curious, muttered Jim. She may have gone out for a moment. Perhaps, said Piquette. Jim went around the studio, glancing at the windows, and then joined his companion by the door, scrutinizing his watch. We're a few moments early, Piquette, he muttered. I will go down, mon ami, and ask when she come back, she ventured. And they went out of the studio, closing the door behind them, but Jim Horton hesitated,

glancing back at the door. I wonder if there could have been any mistake, he muttered. Eight o'clock, I don't understand. Jim, said Biquette, I do not like to look at this. I am afraid. She peered down into the obscurity, suddenly, and put her fingers to her lips someone is coming she murmured it is she paused listened and then caught him by the arm it is not a woman it is a man listen he obeyed catching her meaning and

did significance quickly the footsteps were surely not those of a woman and the stairs to the floor below creaked heavily a man who he muttered it is what i fear we must hide somewhere quick the door of the hall-room jim had slept in was near them tiptoeing over to it quickly the girl behind him he tried the knob it yielded and they entered its darkness leaving the door wide enough open so that they could look out the man was now climbing up the stair and reached the landing if either of them had expected to see barry quinlevin they were disappointed for the figure was heavier strangely similar to the similar to Jim Horton's, and like him, were a dark overcoat and slouch hat. And while they peered out at him, the man hesitated, looked up at the transom, and then turned the knob and entered the studio, closing the door carefully behind him. Jim Horton had felt Piquette's fingers clutch his arm and questioned in a whisper, What is it, Piquette? Your brother, Ari, she gasped.

Impossible. He's at camp. i would swear it in civilian clothes he knows better than that he laughed gently you're nervous piquette it's harry i tell you she insisted i am no mistake it did look like him but what i don't know it's strange what i think but why should harry come here when moira sent me and what if she did not send you the petit you mean i don't know that harry sent it why would he want to meet me he shrugged but it's queer piquette if he's here to worry her again i'll break his head sh whispered piquette calming him she must go with me mon ami he nodded but she isn't there i don't understand we must wait here and so they stood at the door listening for sounds from below silence and then a strange commotion close at hand. Suddenly, Piquette clutched Jim's arm. Jim! He heard her whisper in sudden terror. What is it? He had heard the same thing, too. A faint sound like a cough, followed by a groan as though someone were struggling for breath.

Another pause while they listened again. There was no mistaking it now. Jim Horton had heard the same sounds before from the throat of one of the engineers who had been horribly gassed. another groan then the impact of a heavy body falling jim horton sprang out into the hallway drawing his automatic and threw himself against the studio door it was locked he assaulted it again again and at last the door jam tore away and he was precipitated into the middle of the room revolver in hand glaring about him piquette close beside him her eyes distended with horror in the middle of the floor near the fireplace lay the figure of a man quite motionless a dark blotch growing on the rug beneath his body and the distorted face turned toward the feeble light of the flickering gas-jet was that of his brother harry saint-liersh came from piquette in an odd tone he has kill himself but jim was bending over the body impossible a knife under the arm in the heart its murder he straightened keenly alert and searched the room quickly weapon in hand thoroughly aware of its possibilities for concealment a chair was overturned but the lay figure the draperies the easel were undisturbed and the door into the kitchen was locked the key on the upper as before. The thing was unbelievable, and the mystery deepened as he searched. Moira was not here, had not been here. He was sure of it now. This trap, supernatural, it seemed, had been set to catch Jim Horton, and Harry, God knows how or why, Harry had walked into it. As Piquette bent over to examine the dead man, Horton hauled her away quickly, he had just with him.

enough left to know how dangerous was his own position don't touch anything this is a case for the police come and he led the way down the stairs to the second floor shouting incoherently for help while piquette her tongue loosened now ably seconded him and in a moment it seemed the entire household appeared in the hallway while people from the court and from the street came crowding up horton who knew that there was no possibility of the murderers escaped by the window stood at the stair on the second floor guarding it still bewildered by the mystery trying to explain while the crowd surged up and a police officer who had been passing forced his way through to him bickette gathering her courage explained telling him briefly what had happened while they had watched from the room upstairs. The police officer went up with Horton and Piquette and entered the studio, the crowd following to the door where the policeman commanded them to stop. Then while he questioned Piquet, he lighted all the burners and examined the body, then the closet, the windows, and with drawn weapon approached the door to the kitchenette. It was still locked, the key still in.

the door he turned the key then locked it again you say you tried this door when you first entered the room he asked yes monsieur said pickette promptly we thought that madame morton might be inside but finding it looked we did not go in the policeman drew back muttering most extraordinary he said there is a door from these other rooms into the hallway outside yes the policeman pushed away through the crowd and tried the door from the outside it too was locked he turned to the crowd no one came out of this door no one no one monsieur and this other door indicating the hall-room there was no one there said a man who seemed much at home one of us went in when we came up the stair and came out saying it was empty look you may see for yourself and he threw the door open while the officer investigated he came out more puzzled than ever rejoining horton and piquette at the door of the studio summoning the man and one or two of the others with horton and piquette as witnesses taking the names and addresses carefully this is a case for the commissaire he said to them you will please wait end of chapter twenty one chapter twenty two of the the splendid outcast by George Gibbs. This Libravox recording is in the public domain, recording by Tony Oliva. Mystery. The sudden, extraordinary turn of events and the inexplicable horror of his brother's death had so bewildered Jim Horton that he stood awaiting the arrival of the commissaire de police in a kind of stupefaction, looking down at the huddled

form of the man upon the floor, unable to think with any clearness. The officer requested him not to move or touch anything, and Piquette stood beside Jim as though to give him courage. But the policeman kept an eye on Horton, and remained by the door, watching outside and in, as though guarding it against his possible escape. Horton noticed this, but remained immon. Horton, movable aware that the fellow was only doing his duty and that further explanations must await the arrival of the commissive who had been telephoned for the furniture of the studio each object of which possessed for jim some poignant association seemed strangely familiar yet unreal the chairs the rugs the hangings had suddenly become a background for the body lying among them a part of it linked in a horrible conspiracy of silence moira's plain furniture her easel which still bore the placid portrait of the indomitable

perisienne who had refused to be a frusard the armchair by the fireplace in which moira had set the table from which they had supped the lay figure in its old costume felt hat and draperies the couch by the window the brass bowl on the mantle full of moira's brushes all of them spoke so eloquently of her and moira he frowned as he tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together the knife in his brother's side had been intended for him there was no doubt of that and the motive for the crime was obvious kwenlevin trico yes but how his glance passed over the room again and again seeking in vain the answer his guardian had preferred to await the arrival of his superior before examining the kitchenette and bedrooms but with the door locked upon the outside there was no hope that the solution of the mystery would be found there meanwhile jim horton's mind became slowly impregnated with the realization of his own position which must become more dubious when he answered the questions of the commissive for answer them he must telling the whole of his story if it were necessary without thought of concierge consequences to himself or others. The future became at each moment more ominous. Horrible as the thought was, they might even suspect him of this crime, and even if he escaped

that disaster, with the publicity which must follow, the provost guard awaited him. But at his side was Piquet, who had seen what he had seen and who knew what he knew, and he felt her fingers clasp his with a valiant touch that gave him courage and assurance. And in a short while, the commissaire entered, followed by his secretary, several agents and newspaper men. The commissaire, Monsieur Mathieu, was a man of medium height, strongly built, with small, sharp eyes and reddish hair. He went about the affair with a business-like mean, exchanging a few words with the policeman who had first come, glancing quickly at Horton, Piquette, and the other witnesses.

Let no one into the room, he said in his sharp staccato when he had selected his witnesses, let no one leave it. Then quickly he questioned Horton and Piquette as to their visit and the exact circumstances of their discovery of the body. Horton was at a loss, but Piquette spoke rapidly and in a fashion. few moments had given the commissaire a complete narration of their experiences from the moment they had climbed the stairs to the studio of madame horton you say that you and this monsieur came to this room by appointment to meet madame horton at eight o'clock questioned the commissal yes monsieur that you came up the stair and as the door was unlocked you entered this room finding it empty yes monsieur and the

door to the apartment yonder was locked from this side and the key was in the lock as it is at this moment yes monsieur the rooms beyond then have not yet been entered he asked of the policeman who had come up at the first alarm no monsieur le commissaire bien then we shall enter at once he nodded significantly to the two agents who took their places by jim and piquette and with his secretary and the policeman following him m matthieu unlocked the door into the kitchenette and investigated the kitchen and bedrooms when he reappeared some moments later his face was puzzled but he went to the big studio window and examined the catches these windows you say were also locked he asked if horton suddenly in excellent english they were all of them said horton then you did not know that one of them were open open horton crossed the room eagerly i could have sworn you observe said the frenchman and touching the window it swung open noiselessly that strange muttered horton i thought the catch was on but even so he added there was no chance for the murderer to have escaped there as you will see monsieur it is a blank wall of full three stories in height the commissaire peered out there was a broad wooden ledge o'clock or sill just outside but the ledge led nowhere and he could see that what horton had stated was true it was sixty feet to the flagging of the court below and a drop meant death or injury to anyone who dared attempt it nor was there any sign of a rope or ladder hmm we shall wait for daylight for that in the meanwhile he relapsed into silence gazing about the room with great care

examining each object and coming at last to the body it has not been touched he questioned of the policeman no monsieur he walked around the corpse dictating quickly to the man with the notebook and then drew the knife from the wound it was a two-edged affair at least six inches in length a weapon evidently intended for just such a deadly business he was struck below the left arm and from the left arm and from behind," Piccette heard him dictate. The direction of the weapon in the body indicating without the possibility of a doubt that the wound was not self-inflicted. A case of murder, he finished, looking up at Horton, who had followed his motions with intense interest. Then he moved the body so that it lay flat upon the floor, throwing a pocket-light full upon the face, starting back in amazement. Monsieur, he gasped to Horton, and then threw the light suddenly into Jim Horton's face.

Monsieur Horton, did you know? It is my brother, said Jim quietly. Nond de chien, I could swear it was yourself. My twin brother, monsieur, repeated Horton. Monsieur Mathieu's eyes narrowed as he gazed at Jim. The case becomes more interesting. Hmm, you will now tell me, please. what happened when you went out of the studio into the hallway horton nodded we thought of going away and returning when madame horton my sister-in-law should return the wife of the murdered man broke in the commissaire yes monsieur said jem as we were about to go down to the court below we heard the footsteps of someone coming up but it was not madame horton we knew that by the sounds it was a man's step

so we withdrew into the little hall-room and watched the facts are curious monsieur horton put in the commissaire with sudden interest why did you wish to conceal yourself from the other visitors of madame horton the question was pertinent and there could be no evading a reply so jem told briefly of quinlevin moira and harry and his unfriendly relationship with his brother as he did so he heard the gas and whisperings among the listeners which gave him an unpleasant realization of their conception of the affair and the testimony of piquette who grew angry at the sounds from the auditors did nothing to improve his situation i see monsieur said m m m m m m auteu sagely it is wise that you see fit to tell us the truth now since it must all come out later there was bad blood between you and your brother and between you and m quinlevin so that you feared a plot in the petit blue which meant to do you violence not when i received the message monsieur i came here with madame morin in good faith to try to try to you and help Madame Horton to take her away from a situation in which she was most unhappy. And your relations with your sister-in-law? asked the commissaire.

Horton flushed angrily, but he realized that the man was within his rights. As Piquette cried excitedly, Madame Horton was unhappy with her husband, monsieur. Madam Horton and I were the best of friends, broke in Jim quietly. Evidently, said Monsieur, dryly the changed manner of m matthieu his sudden air of intense interest in jim himself and the keen appraisal in his eyes did not augur well for the result of the investigation you will please go on with the rest of the story monsieur he added and then with a glance at picket and you madame will be pleased to remain silent until i question you you say that you realized that the visitor coming up the stair was a man and that you and madame withdrew in the darkness into the little hall-room and waited yes monsieur and you both saw the man come up the stairs to the studio door what happened then he turned the knob and entered

had you recognized him as your brother at that time i hadn't i thought that my brother had joined his regiment ah a soldier and do you know why he is here in civilians clothes i do not did not did madame morin recognize him yes but i didn't believe it was he even then monsieur matthieu smiled and shrugged and you didn't realize how much alike you were in your dark overcoats and soft hats no and after your brother went in at the studio door how long did you and madame wait in the hall-room i don't know exactly a matter of four or five minutes when we heard sounds in the studio and the falling of a body. And you rushed out to the studio door and went in? Asked the commissaire craftily. The door was locked, said Jim. I put my shoulder against it and broke it in.

Ah, you broke it in. How long did that take? Perhaps half a minute. And when you enter the room, Madame was with you? Yes, just behind him, broke in, Piquet eagerly. Mr. Mathieu glanced at Piquette with a frown which silenced her. And what did you see, monsieur? What you saw, monsieur, my brother lying there, the chair upset, but no sign of anyone in the room.

It was very mystifying. Yes, it must have been, dryly. Miraculous, in fact. And then, what did you do? i examined the room thoroughly i was bewildered monsieur i couldn't understand any more than you can because the only door by which the murderer could have escaped i found to be locked as you found it monsieur most extraordinary and what is your theory as to the escape of the murderer i haven't any the more i think the more astounding it seems i couldn't believe unless i had seen all these things with my own eyes and you madame he asked at last in french turning to piquette what monsieur tells is the truth monsieur le commissaire i swear monsieur mature laughed come now what you two asked me to think is beyond belief i come to this room and find a man murdered by a dastardly blow dealt by a man of great muscular force here he ran a careless glance up and down jim horton's long figure the only door by which he could have escaped is locked exit by the window is impossible and you and madame guard the stairs until the crowd gathers do you think you will get me to believe that the murderer flew up the chimney i don't ask you to believe anything said jim trying to keep his nerve but i must believe the evidence of my observation there is no way to believe in the

in which the man could have passed you on the stair none said Jim helplessly until I came up with the policeman no one went down that is true added pickett m Orton was armed no one could have passed him here the commissaire was puzzled for what had seemed clearer a moment ago was lost in the frankness of this confession where are the other witnesses in the case he asked of the policeman here monsieur indicating one of the men he had detained this man was in the hall with the crowd these others too are willing to testify the secretary took the witness's name paul jubert his address and m mature questioned him you have heard the testimony of m horton yes monsieur it is true in every particular i and these others indicating the men beside him came up the stairs to the landing and entered the studio how many were there in the crowd eight ten a dozen he replied while the others confirmed him did you know them all ah no monsieur i live in the court at the rear some of them were strangers who ran in from the street there was no one in the upper hall no one and in the hall-room one of the men who had rushed up examined the room and said

it was empty i went in myself also and saw that this was so is the man who first went into the hall-room here no monsieur le commissaire i do not recognize him the light from the doorway was dim and all right said matthieu no matter and then and the other door from the apartment to the hallway remained locked all the time he asked yes monsieur no one came out of there we tried it many times. Hmm. And you have no theory as to how anyone could have escaped from the room under the circumstances? No, monsieur, it is nothing less than a miracle. The other witnesses shook their heads in confirmation of the testimony. That will do, Monsieur Jubert, and then turning to Horton. Now, Monsieur Horton, what did you think when you found the body of your brother, when you had positive proof that unless the murderer had jumped from the window to death he must at that moment have been in the room horton had courage but he couldn't deceive himself as to the intent of the question the cord was tightening he felt it in the looks of those around him in the frightened breathing of piquette and in the steady gaze of his questioner which he met with more and more difficulty but he managed to answer think why I couldn't think monsieur I was bewildered dazed stupefied with astonishment and horror but you must give me credit for some intelligence protested the commissaire since the murderer couldn't have gone out of the door while you say you were breaking in he must have been in the room all the while there was no one in the room I saw searched it that is true almost screamed piquette in her excitement i was with him there was no one quietly madame said m matthieu reprovingly and then m orton when you search the room what did you do

what you would have done monsieur i rushed down the stair and gave the alarm watching the stair and waiting for the police i am as mystified as you if i could tell you any more I would do so. Monsieur Mathieu tapped his eyeglasses thoughtfully, and it was a long time before he spoke, and then Where is Madame Horton? I don't know. And Monsieur Quinlavin, I don't know.

You have no means of helping me to find them. If I had, I would tell you. A pause, and then the commissaire cleared his throat in an important manner. I have a feeling that you are keeping something back m horton i warn you that you will not make things easy for yourself in making them difficult for me what do you mean monsieur asked jim sure that his position and pickets had now grown desperate merely monsieur said the commissaire with a glance at the dead man that blows such as this are not struck

by spiritual agencies that when there is a murdered man there must also be a murderer your testimony and that of madame morin agree but then i cannot neglect the possibility that you may have some object in agreeing you believe that i horton broke in horror i believe nothing until it is definitely proved i admit that there are many of this case which seem favorable to a belief in your story but there are also some points which from your testimony seem to be incredible we do not live in an age of miracles murders are not committed by spirits who vanish there was bad blood between you and your brother you yourself have admitted it madame morin had a suspicion when he came up the stair that the petit bleu you received was a trap intended for you which my brother fell into said horton in a last desperate effort to clear himself why monsieur you yourself can see how like we are the blow was intended for me you are fortunate monsieur said the commissaire with a shrug and you will have every chance to prove your innocence but i cannot take the grave response of liberating you the case must go to the preface and it will be heard in its entirety including the many details which have been suggested as to madame horton and m quinlevin i am only sent here to investigate the case in its physical aspects and the result of the investigation is to place you and madame morin under arrest horton straightened and glanced around at the others and the others and the result of the investigation is to place you and madame morin under arrest horton straightened and glanced around at the others and the room they had ceased to have personalities they looked like wax images staring at him in wonder in curiosity as though he were already condemned from them his glance found piquette her face was white and she was staring at the commissaire as though she could not believe the evidence of her ears why monsieur have we not told you he heard her begin to be

when the officer silenced her you will have every opportunity to testify tomorrow madame she sent one glance at him the gamine in her terrified at the law as represented in the man before her and then bewildered rushed to jim and caught him by the hand courage mon ami she gasped you have only to speak the truth i'm not frightened he said but you piquet a prison it's nothing she said bravely but he saw that she was on the point of breaking and now broke in the commissaire who had watched this by-play with some interest i am sorry that we must be off come and giving some instructions as to the witnesses to one of the ajean de police who had accompanied him and taking the revolver which horton silently offered him he led the way down the stair with piquette and horton following policemen at their elbows a great crowd had assembled in the street and courtyard below horton caught a glimpse of the white cap and whiter face of madame tupin at the door of her loge and then was hurried by a policeman into a carriage which was awaiting them he saw poor piquette put into another one and they drove off in the direction of the prefecture de police where he was shown without ceremony into a cell alone to await a further investigation upon the morrow he sank down upon the cot buried his head in his hands and tried to think quenlevin was at the bottom of this quinlevin tricoe one of them had done this dastardly thing believing to save their skins and thinking that

they were killing him but how had the murderer gotten away how how how end of chapter 22 chapter 23 of the splendid outcast by George Gibbs this Libravox recording is in the public domain recording by Tony Oliva escape the revelation in monsieur de vaughtrains rooms the confession of piquette morin and the startling events that immediately followed it were all bewildering from affection for quinlevin moira had passed through the stages of incredulity doubt and reassurance and then at nora's downfall dismay at her own position and after quinlevin's brutal treatment of her aversion and terror. When he turned the key of her door and went with Piquet into his own room, she threw herself into her chair, aware of her dependence upon him, and yet ready to run away and throw herself upon the mercy of the first stranger that she could find. But the sounds that

came from behind the closed door fascinated her, the murmur of conversation rising and falling, and then the strange noises heard indistinctly yet frightful in their significance. The silence that followed, still more suggestive. She shrank upon her bed in terror, shutting her ears with her fingers. Then the renewal of the commotion as she raised her hands, her terror inquisitive for the worst, the sound of blows, the grunts of men in struggle, and then the falling of a body.

Tricot and Quinlivan. They were killing each other. That was the chief thought in her mind, that and the imperative need of escape. She got up, trembling, and went to the door, shooting the brass bolt, then turned, catching up her coat and gloves. The door into the corridor was locked, but she could still go out through Nora's room. She tried the other door, but found it locked on the outside. She called her. called Nora softly than more loudly and heard the woman answer presently by dint of wild persuasion she prevailed upon her old nurse to open the door nora was red of face disheveled and bewildered what is it you want, Alanov i must go you must go with me she stammered for why isn't it enough that i've been through this day without but Moira pushed her way past the woman. Something dreadful has happened in there. She stammered her face white. I can't stay.

What then? A fight? Mr. Quindhoven and Tricot. The woman tried to restrain her, but Moira flung herself away and unlocked the door. You'll not be livin me here alone, gasped Nora. Come then, quickly. And she fled out into the corridor, the woman following, down the stairway and into the night. The memory of those dreadful hours of wandering with Nora along the roads was like a dream in a fever. But after a while the physical exercise made her more calm and she was able to explain to the frightened Irish woman what had happened. Her first impulse had been to flee from it all, to escape anywhere, but without money, where should she go? with the return of reason came courage and with courage a resolve to go back and do what she could for piquette

they would not have dared to kill her it was impossible an impulse to tell the people of the hotel what had happened came to her again but as she turned toward the gardens followed heavily by the frightened nora she resolved to go upstairs and face whatever was in store for her what she found was rather terrifying at first but when she summoned nerve enough to turn on the light she saw two swaddled figures squirming to be free madame morin had vanished with the help of nora who came out of her state of coma when the facts were made obvious she liberated the time of two men and questioned eagerly. Why didn't you come before? Was Quinlavin's reply. He was not pleasant to look at. I was frightened at the sounds.

I ran away. What has happened? Isn't it obvious? Mumbled the Irishman, spitting out a fragment of the cotton towel from his dry throat. Jim Harden? Gassed Moira. The same.

Damn him. And madame? Need your guess. yes he sneered there well on the road to paris by now thank god said moira fervently he glanced at her but said nothing his feelings were too deep for words but the day following moira was to learn her dependence upon him he took little pains to conceal the change of his feelings towards her the suddenness of which proclaimed only to insistently the fact that his years of kindness were only the device jim horton had proved them to be on the way back to paris he was for the most part silent and morose remaining much of the time with the abominable trico leaving moira to the tender mercies of her old nurse who now shared with her the irishman's displeasure it was indeed a sisterhood of consolation and she saw that with the failure of the great plan.

Nora was much chastened by her experience, for she set and wailed in a most discomfiting manner, confessing at last her share in the conspiracy and throwing herself upon Moira's mercy. Moira was sorry for the woman who had brought her safely through her baby diseases and acted as guide, counselor and friend until it was time for her to go away to boarding school. And so, mingled with the content that Moria felt for her, there was a little pity too, and a leaven of the old affection.

In those moments of rapprochement and confession, Moira learned in astonishment the secret of her birth Jim Horton had not been mistaken. She was not the daughter of Barry Quinlavin, but his niece, posthumous daughter of his younger brother, whose widow had died in childbirth. Barry Quinlivan's own wife, an invalid and bedridden, had acquiesced in the plan of adopting the daughter of her sister-in-law but had not known in the few years before her own death of the deception that was to be practiced upon monsieur de vaughtrain the community in which the families lived was sparsely settled the neighbors ignorant and illiterate if m de vaughtran had taken pains to make inquiries at this time he must surely have discovered the ruse but he had apparently

taken all things told him for granted or was too enrapped in his own selfish pursuits to give the case attention. So long as he was left to the enjoyment of his fortune by the paying of the tribute Quinlavin demanded, he was satisfied. And so Quinlivan managed things in his own way, paying Nora for her silence and keeping Moira in ignorance as to the source of their income. If Quinloven guessed the nature of the conversation that passed between the two women upon the train, he gave no sign of it, but when they reached Paris and returned to the studio, he seemed to experience a change of heart toward Moira, did what he could to restore the breach in their old relations, admitting the truth of Nora's

confession and shrugging off his failure as a matter that was ended. Apparently taking Moira's forgiveness for granted he treated her in their new relation of uncle and niece with marked consideration and planned in his grandiose way for the future he seemed to have plenty of money and spent it upon her generously but he did not leave her for a moment and when he proposed a trip to Fontainebleau a spot which in former years she had loved to visit, he asked her to accompany him. Her reasons for acquiescence were logical enough, until she decided upon a definite plan of separation from him, she thought it wisest to assume an attitude of forbearance. She wanted to go away somewhere where she could think, and

she wanted to hide herself where Jim Horton couldn't find her. For she was sure that he would not be content to let their affair remain as she had desired it he would come pleading with her and then god knows what she would do alone helpless she was afraid of herself the little inn in the forest where they stopped was not far from the house of some friends of moira's and thither if the opportunity offered she could go for sanctuary but here again she felt the constant supervision of her indomitable foster father and uncle he recovered some of his old spirits and his old affection as he seemed to be trying to obliterate from her men the last few weeks which had been so disastrous to them both but she accepted these marks of his regeneration with reserve enjoying the rest and recuperation and trying her best to forget the man she loved praying for strength and guidance and planning the struggle for existence which must begin when this brief interlude came to an end and so in a few days she loved lulled him into a sense of security and convinced him of her spirit of resignation she wandered off alone into the forest and sometimes did not see him for hours at a time but she did not attempt escape she was thinking deeply she was still afraid that an escape from quinlevin meant the other the greater danger to her soul it was upon her return for

from one of her solitary pilgrimages through the dripping woods, for the early morn had been foggy, that she learned that Barry Quinlivan was still in bed. She smiled as she thought how easily her acquiescence had disarmed him. But when she sent up a message that she had returned, he sent down word that he would join her at Dijunet. Something of the old attraction toward him still remained in spite of her knowledge of his villainy. She had not yet been able to obliterate from her mind the many years of his encouragement in her work, his gentleness and the many marks of affection. In his strange way he had loved her, and the fact that she now felt contempt for him did not disguise the fact that she felt a little pity, too. But she knew that she must decide very

soon what she would do there were so many years to set in the balance against the present rogue yes but full of consideration and a lively appreciation of the creature that he had made her to cut him out of her life root and branch much as she had learned to despise him was not easy, but she must do it, for her own self-respect, tomorrow, the next day. As she thought of her problems, she sank into an armchair by the fire and picked up a copy of a morning paper which a new visitor had just brought in from the city. It was part of Moira's purpose in hiding herself from the world to hide also the world from herself. But she picked up the matins and in a moment was absorbed in the account of the projected peace conference but as she turned the page her glance fell upon a familiar name many familiar names and in a moment her eyes starting from her head she read the dreadful headlines murder in a studio in the cartier captain horton u s a

killed under strange circumstances then the news which followed describing briefly for space was valuable the known facts regarding the mystery the arrest of an american james horton and a french woman pending a further investigation of the mysterious crime apparently all the facts in the possession of the police were given which unless some other details of the mystery were discovered pointed the fear of suspicion at the american who was the twin brother of the dead man moira read with growing horror the familiar address the names of madame tupin and the other tenants her own name and mary quinlevans whose absence had added to the mystery the type danced before her eyes like the shifting colors in a kaleidoscope and then became merged and incomprehensible was she dreaming With an effort, she focused again upon the damnable page, aware of this new crisis that had sought her out from the depths of her retreat. Harry, dead, murdered. What had he been doing at the studio?

There must be some mistake. Harry was at camp a hundred miles away, and Jim, Jim Horton, his murderer, the thing was impossible. She got up, paper in hand, and scarcely aware of what she was doing, went to her room and quickly put on her hat and coat, coming downstairs a few moments later, and taking the road in the direction of the railroad station. She had no definite plan except to escape her uncle and get to Paris as quickly as possible, but she was aware that some instinct was guiding her. She inquired if the station agent when the Paris train was due. She was lucky.

There would be a train in half an hour. She bought a ticket out of the slender means, in her possession and waited going over and over in her mind the terrible phrases which seemed already to have burned themselves indelibly upon her memory the motive for the crime there seemed to be none except that the two brothers had not been friendly motive harry her husband and jim holy virgin she leaned against a tree by the roadside and wordlessly prayed not that motive not that that. And Jim Horton, whatever the things he had suffered through Harry, his own misplaced gallantry, and through her, he was not the man who could have done this thing? When she raised her head, listening for the sounds of the train, a smile was on her lips, a new smile of confidence and faith. She had tried him. She knew the kind of man he was. He could fight. In the open, as a brave man should, but not in the dark, not with a dastardly blow for his own brother in the dark. When the train came in, she was calm again and resolved. Whatever skill,

whatever intelligence she had, was to be dedicated to solving this mystery and clearing Jim Horton of all complicity in the murder. Her name was mentioned, the police required her presence, would go to them and tell her whole story, neglecting nothing, whatever it cost her. She stared at the passing scenery with eyes that saw nothing, but there was a frown at her brows and her lips were drawn together in a firm line. She was beginning to see with an inner vision to turn over one by one the events of the last few weeks and the motives of all those concerned in them the police did not know who had committed this crime if Jim Horton were innocent the circumstances were such as to preclude the possibility of anyone escaping from the room and yet someone must have been there and someone somehow must have escaped out of her own knowledge emerged a motive for a murder not of harry but of his brother a motive that had already been the cause of two abortive attempts upon his life

somehow this thought emerged with photographic distinctness from the others becoming at each moment more definite and more full of sinister suggestion but a life perhaps two lives one of them jim hortons hung upon the keenness of her vision and intelligence. If Monsieur Mathieu, the commissaire, whose name had been given in the matins, was balked in getting at the truth, she would help him. There were many things he did not know, many things that she could tell him, such as would perhaps open new vistas for investigation. Quite calmly now, she took out the paper and re-read the details, her imagination. Her catching at neglected clues, her instinct groping and her horror grew, not at the thought of Jim in his prison, but of other suspicions that rose from every known fact and confronted her pointing, accusing fingers. She passed between the white columns of the entrance to the Palais

of Justice, through the iron and guilt barrier, and then paused, but not in any fear. for her mind was made up and her courage had come back to her with a rush that put to shame her days of uncertainty so she approached one of the palace guards and asked to be shown to the office of the prefe the prefe she was informed was not in the building would anyone else do was it upon a matter connected with the administration of justice she replied promptly that she came upon a matter in connection with the murder mystery in the studio at number seven rue de tavern and the man pricked up his ears conducting her promptly up a long flight of stone steps to the left where he told her she would find the jige d'instruction and when in reply to his question as to what name he should announce she told him that she was madame horton his interest and activity were intense With a word to the Grafier, who stood near, he disappeared through a door, and in a moment returned with two gentlemen who hurried forward to meet her, introducing themselves as Monsieur Simon, the judge d'instruction, who had taken charge of the investigation, and

Monsieur Mathieu, the commissaire de police, for the district in which the crime had been committed. she followed them through the door from which they had emerged and answering their questions told her story without hesitation from the moment of her visit to jem horton at the hospital at nighi until she had read in the morning paper of the crime i came monsieur because it was my duty to aid you in clearing up this mystery and because i know that whatever the evidence you hold against him monsieur horton could never have been guilty of this crime m simon wagged his head sagely and plucked with slender white fingers at his dark beard we are greatly indebted to you madame our agents have been looking for you no doubt they would have found you in time but it was wiser for you to come much wiser your story is interesting and may do much to help m mmeier in his investigation but but you must admit madame broke in the practical commissaire who had a reputation at stake that instead of tending to clear monsieur oton of suspicion you have only added one more thread to the net that already enmeshes him what do you mean monsieur his love for you his dislike for your husband moira flushed painfully i have told you that the truth in this matter because i believe that only by knowing the whole truth will you be able to solve this mystery if m harton tells you that the studio was empty he tells you what he believes to be the truth why otherwise would he lie about a situation which must surely condemn him

we have thought of all that madame said m simon and i am willing to admit that there are several points in his testimony which are very puzzling we have only finished his examination and that of madame morin which have lasted the greater part of the morning both he and madame morin have repeated without the slightest divergence the testimony taken in the preliminary examination at the scene of the crime i am glad to say also that there is a statements confirm in a general way your own in regard to what has happened in the affair of the Duke de Votrains the entire department of police is now upon a search for Monsieur Barry Quinlivan and the man named trico who will of course be given the opportunity to explain where they were last night at eight o'clock an agent goes at once to Fontainebleau, but that does not exonerate Monsieur Horton or Madame Morin.

A man has been killed in a room from which the murderer could not have emerged without detection. The door to the sleeping apartments was locked. The key on the outside. The window was sixty feet from the stone flagging below. The window and wall were... carefully studied this morning after daybreak the murderer could not have climbed down it is impossible m houghton admits that he did not escape by the stair how then did he escape the docks have been guarded he is not there now nor did m houghton discover him either before or after the murder and yet he was there m signan said moir her voice gathering strength and clearness from the depth of her faith and conviction he was there monsieur le commissaire she repeated all the time nothing else is possible m matthieu tapped his eyeglasses upon the palm of his hand

i should be very willing to believe you madame he said with polite scepticism had i not ocular demonstration that there could have been no one in the room at any moment between the arrival of m horton and madame morin and the alarm given by m horton himself i have not yet exhausted every avenue of investigation but i need not conceal from you the extreme danger of the position in which m horton finds himself we have a motive for the crime even you madame have only added testimony as to that with his brother did there was no obstacle to your unfortunate affection. Monsieur! Moira had drawn back from him in dismay, her face blanched again.

If I seem cruel, I only speak with a cold logic of the professional analyst of human motives. The fact that you are a Catholic and opposed to divorce only provides another reason why your husband should be removed from the path of Monsieur Horton. everything that moira had said seemed to be weaving more tightly the skein of evidence around the man she loved and this thinking machine in the eyeglasses grasped only at the threads that seemed to incriminate him and what of the other evidence that she had presented would they disregard that she was trying to think clearly connectedly and presently managed to put her thoughts into words have you discovered how or why m jim horton happened to be at the studio and why if he was bent upon the murder of his own brother he took madame morin as a witness all accessory put in monsieur matthieu sharply that is absurd broke in moira with some spirit and you know it m signan nodded approval

i am glad you have made that point madame it is our trade to make our witnesses uncomfortable that they may controvert themselves but you have propped quite straight and instead of answering your question permit me to ask you another did you send a petit bleu to m houghton requesting him to come to your studio last night at eight o'clock the expression upon moira's face showed so genuine an astonishment that there could be no doubting the sincerity of her reply i no monsieur simon i was at fontainebleau why should i ask him to come to the studio when i was not there the two men exchanged glances of new interest both m horton and madame morin testify that m herton receives such a message Moira started forward in her chair. What did that message say, monsieur? Monsieur Simone took the blue slip from a packet of papers and laid it before her. With eyes dilated, she read the message that was signed with her name,

then for a moment frowned deeply, staring at this confirmation of her suspicion. What do you think, madame? asked Simone. Moira was silent for a moment. struggling for the mastery of her emotions and then in a suppressed tone barely audible it is as i supposed messieurs monsieur jim harton was lured to the studio by this message and my husband was killed by mistake in his stead by whom madame asked the judge quickly moira made a nervous gesture of recantation i i do not know it is horrible to suspect without further proof i i cannot say monsieur quinlevin that's impossible he was at fontainebleau then who that's for you to find out i did not come to accuse but to liberate search find let her own words convict them she said wildly i cannot i can only know that mrs horton did not kill my husband that is impossible monsieur matthieu who had listened for most of the while in silence now rose and took a pace or two before her tapping his glasses quickly against his palm Madame Horton, let us confine ourselves to the physical evidence that confronts us.

No one could have been in that studio between the moment when Monsieur Jim Horton and Madame Morin say they left it until they say they returned some moments later. That is the fact. I know it is my business to neglect nothing. I have neglected nothing. Therefore I tell you that no matter whom you suspect to have committed this murder, no matter whom monsieur simon or i might believe to have had motive in committing it the fact remains that he could not have entered the studio or departed from it during the short period in which this crime was committed and i say to you now that no human being except m horton could have been present to commit this murder and yet said moira desperately a human being other that

and Monsieur Horton killed my husband. Monsieur Mathieu shrugged and smiled. You have not investigated as I have done, Madame, he said. No, monsieur, but I am right, she said firmly. You are persistent. It is my duty to find the truth of this matter, and mine, but not to achieve the impossible. Monsieur Simone, whose nervous fingers had been caressing his dark beard,

while his small, deep-set eyes followed the changing emotions, and Moira's troubled face, now broke into the discussion with some spirit. It is not safe, Monsieur le Commissaire, to disregard the intuitions of a woman. In this case, since we have weighed all immediate evidence, perhaps it would be wise to give Madame Horton the opportunity of confidence. to her own satisfaction the results of your investigation m matthieu smiled then shrugged again voluntier monsieur if you think it worth while at least it can do no harm madame horton is familiar with her own studio perhaps she may notice something that has escaped your eye as you please it is that which you desire madame asked the judge oh thanks monsieur uttered moira gratefully i could not be satisfied even after the skill of monsieur le commissaire unless i had probed this mystery with my own eyes

come then madame there is still time we shall go at once end of chapter twenty three chapter twenty four of the splendid outcast by george gibbs this This Libravox recording is in the public domain recording by Tony Oliva. The Clue The body of Harry Horton had been removed from the studio, and this, it seemed, made Moira's task less painful, but she was now armed with a desperate courage, which even the sight of Harry's mangled body would not have dismayed, and the thought that her keenness of perception,

her intelligence, her woman's instinct, were the only weapon she had with which to combat the skepticism of this skillful detective, and saved Jim Horton from the perils of impending indictment for murder, gave her a sense of responsibility which keyed her faculties to their utmost and drove from her heart. All terrors of her situation. She must succeed where, m matthieu had failed instinct would guide her instinct and faith monsieur matthieu if not her enemy was prejudiced in favor of a preconceived idea which every bit of evidence justified and yet there must be other evidence clues neglected trifles overlooked and she must find them out the burden of the testimony against jim would fall if she could prove it physically possible for someone to have been in the studio while jim horton and piquette had waited outside this was her object nothing else seemed to matter on the way to the rue de taven in a cab monsieur simon replied politely to her questions giving her all the information she desired while m set opposite how she hated the man his smile patronized his reddish hair inflamed her she could see that in his mind jim horton was already convicted

but when they reached the porte-cochere of madame tupin m simon handed her gravely down and m m l'artier led the way up the stair to the studio where a policeman was still on guard. Moira followed the commissaire closely and stood for a moment on the threshold of the room, while Monsieur Mathieu unbent enough to show her where the body lay, and to indicate the locked door and the chair which had been overturned. To Moira, these matters were already unimportant, since she saw no reason to deny the testimony of the many witnesses on these points. She entered the room slowly with a feeling of some awe, and for a moment stood by the fireplace, glancing from one object to the other, thinking deeply, a dark stain on the rug, just before her, gave her a tremor. But she recovered herself immediately and walked slowly around the room,

examining each object as though she had never seen it before. does madame wish to look in the apartment or the kitchenette she heard m matthieu's voice asking but she shook her head the answer to the mystery lay here in this very room she was already satisfied as to that is this room in the precise condition in which it was found when the police first arrived she asked coolly yes madame except for the removal of the body nothing has been disturbed you are sure of this i am madame it is for this reason that a policeman has been always on guard and you yourself monsieur you have moved no object no drapery no chair no madame nothing i climbed upon the couch to look out of the window that is all she nodded and passed around the lay figure which she was regarding with a new interest and the gray drapery on the shoulder of the lay figure you say it has not been touched m matioux looked up with a smile i examined the figure carefully madame i may have raised the drapery but i received stored it as i found it then things are not precisely as they were she said keenly no madame not the gray drapery said matthieu amusedly you did not touch the bolero jacket no madame nor the skirt i am quite sure of that said the commissaire she removed the hat from the head of paper machet and examined it minutely then

took off the head itself and stared into the painted eyes as though asking the mute familiar lips a question and then suddenly as the commissaire and m simon watched curiously tis a pity that you move the draperies monsieur matthieu she said slowly why madame because you have disturbed the dust i can't understand why i was away for a week some dust would have accumulated upon the draperies the figure has been touched it is not as i left it of course madame i made a thorough investigation and what did you learn from it she asked quietly m matthieu glanced at her once and then shrugged nothing madame a lae figure is a lay figure true said moira carelessly but the commissaire found himself regarding her with a new appraising eye what did she mean by this question but she moved past him quickly as though with a definite purpose and approached the north window which of these sashes was unlocked monsieur the one to the right madame i see you say it was closed but not fastened that is correct that is strange why madame because i fastened it with great care before i left for fontainebleau you are sure of this positive it has an awkward catch you see and she demonstrated how easily it came unlatched unless pressed firmly down m'er mathew came forward smiling you only indicate madame that it will slip easily out of place moira met his gaze firmly tried to make it slip monsieur she said since i have fastened it he tried by tapping by shaking the window but the catch held it is a matter of little moment he muttered since it would be impossible for the murderer to have escaped this way perhaps said moira but

while she spoke she unlocked the catch then slipped it insecurely into place and stood aside studying it keenly what is it that interest you madame asked the judge d'instruction the catch monsieur she replied quietly it is an old one the edges are worn quite smooth and just then as a breeze came from without the french window swung gently open mme monsieur matthieu started back a pace and glanced at monsieur simon you found this window open monsieur le commissaire said the judge that is true replied the commissaire confidently but it is possible that m horton may have disturbed it when he examined it before the murder moira turned quickly the window was securely locked i left it so mrs horton found it so you make nothing of this either monsieur le comrade Mr. Mathieu shook his head and pointed toward the opening. My answer to your questions, Madame is yonder, he said with a grin. Explain to me how any living man could have descended from that window, and I will surrender to you my position and my reputation as commissaire de police. Moira made no reply.

She had climbed upon the couch and was already half out of the window examining the broad ledge outside, while Monsieur Simon, somewhat alarmed lest she should lose her balance, had caught her by the skirt of her dress. Be careful, madame, he warned. You may fall. Have no fear, Monsieur Lajouge, she said with a smile, but she had lowered herself to her knees upon the ledge outside, and, clinging to the jam of the window, was carefully examining every inch. of the sill and tin gutter. M. Mathieu, inside the room, had lighted a cigarette, and was puffing at it contentedly, looking on with an amused tolerance at the solicitude of Monsieur

Simon, who, as he knew, was more easily swayed than himself from the paths of his duty, by a pretty face or a well-turned ankle. Through the panes of glass he saw that the girl had bent forward at the edge her eyes near the tin gutter the fingers of one hand touching the edge while m simon held her other arm and besought her to return this she did presently standing for a moment upright in the open window and looking down at them intently a challenge in her eyes for the commissal did you discover anything madame he asked politely enough though his professional manner may not have indicated it monsieur matthieu was sorry for her she had attempted the impossible her lover was doomed but she was handsome with a fine color that had come into her face from her exertions and the new gleam of hope that had come into her eyes handsome but her effort was futile so futile to hope to find clues where he matthieu had failed she didn't reply and accepting the hand which the gallant juge d'instriction offered her step down to the couch and so to the floor you see madame ventured the commissaire more kindly that it would be quite out of the question for the murderer to have descended from the window i have never thought that he did monsieur said moira dryly the commissaire stared at her for a moment in astonishment what was the meaning of this sudden assurance in her tone could it be possible that this girl had noted something that he had overlooked

that she had evolved a theory out of some intangible bit of evidence that had escaped him impossible and yet curiously enough he experienced a slight feeling of uneasiness which might have been discomfort had he not been so sure of himself you have perhaps happened upon something that has escaped my eye he asked frankly i do not know what your eye saw or what it did not see monsieur she said quietly but i have learned nothing to make me change my opinions as to this crime i hope that you will be able to confirm them said the commissaire if there is anything that i can do yes monsieur broke in moira with precision if monsieur le just d'instruction will grant permission with a flash of her eyes at m simon i would be obliged if you would summon for me monsieur jubert or any others in the building who followed m horton up the stair she glanced at m simon who bowed his head in agreement by all means said the judge if madame has reason to believe i ask it monsieur le juge not as a favor but as a necessary step in the administration of justice in this case it is little enough go monsieur here are the names madame topin will direct you monsieur matthieu hesitated he did not wish to leave the room something had happened to change the manner of this woman her eyes glowed she was authoritative inspired he was beginning to believe that after all you will please go at once monsieur the voice of the judge was saying madame and i will await your return and so with a backward glance monsieur mature went out you think you have found a clue madame asked monsieur simon with an air of encouragement

i don't know monsieur hope perhaps a vain one but you are friendly you shall see and crossing quickly in front of him she went directly to the lay figure and examined it minutely this old skirt monsieur as you will observe is fastened by buttons it is somewhat twisted on one side yes madame this was the first thing that attracted my attention but one button holds it-auburned at one hand but one button holds it-auburned at one hand but one button holds it. and it is fastened at the wrong button-hole and what does that signify merely that it has been tampered with i did not fasten it in this way monsieur she said positively you are sure m simon was now as eager as she absolutely i am a leisurely person i have done all the cleaning in this studio myself i am careful in small matters it would have been impossible for me to have fastened these buttons as you see them saplicee madame and you think he paused as moira unbuttoned the old skirt and slipped it down while she moved eagerly around the partially disrobed figure monsieur she gasped in sudden excitement as she pointed to the cotton covering of the mannequin he looked where she pointed and saw a stain of dirt and dust which extended the full length of the thigh what does it mean he asked the lay figure is a been moved from its iron bracket and even so what but she had fallen on her knees before it and didn't even hear him for she suddenly bent forward with a little cry and put her finger into a small tear in the cotton cloth on the outside of the right calf i have it she muttered excitedly as though half to herself i have it new clean on one side soiled on the other what

madame what asked simon catching the fire of her eagerness the hole in the leg monsieur she cried don't you see a piece torn out against some rough surface yes but and here is the cloth that was torn from it she gasped exhibiting a small piece of cotton cloth you see it fits the tear exactly simon took it from her hands and scrutinized it through his glasses the torn piece was of the same material as the cotton skin of the lay figure soiled upon one side and clean upon the other where did you find this piece of cotton madame he asked in a suppressed tone outside the window hanging below a torn edge of the tin gutter where it must have escaped the eyes of monsieur de commissaire mon dieu then the lay figure must have been outside on the ledge exactly outside the stain of dust upon the legs shows how it lay magnifice madame but the skirt and the jacket were first removed she went on breathlessly isn't it obvious otherwise there would have been no stain of dirt upon the leg there is no mark of dirt upon them quick madame the jacket and with his own hands the judge helped her remove the spanish jacket taking from his pocket a small magnifying glass with his own hands the judge helped her remove the spanish jacket taking from his pocket a small magnifying glass with which he examined the figure intently by the arm-pits m simon it is there the hands would have caught simon obeyed while moira lifted the arms there's something he muttered softly a stain broke in moira quickly i can see it with the naked eye it was a faint smudge of a brownish color like rust the print of a finger she mumbled it shall be analyzed it looks at a faint smudge of a brownish color like rust the print of a finger she mumbled it shall be analyzed it will be analyzed it looks like the murderer's finger stained if it is blood madame yes yes then a murderer carried this figure back after the murder exactly and he she paused and then was suddenly silent for m matthieu the commissaire appeared at the door of the studio he came quickly forward glancing at the denuded mannequin in the absurd pose of gesticul

into which they had put it it seemed to be making a ribbled gesture at the astonished commissaire you have left nothing to the imagination i see madame and then you have discovered something he asked perhaps said moira briefly you have been able to find some of the witnesses yes madame the most important but it would give me pleasure to know in a moment monsieur i am intent upon this problem perhaps we shall learn something it is monsieur jubert that i wish to see particularly he is a carpenter and lives in the court at the rear it is he that i have found madame and turning aside matthieu beckoned toward the corridor and m jubair entered he was well known to moira and saluted her his brow troubled bonjour monsieur joubert she said trying to control the beating of her heart and the labor of her breathing for here she knew was to be the test of the worth of her discoveries everything that she believed would stand or fall by the testimony of the people who had followed jim horton up the stair monsieur madame horton said the carpenter politely where were you monsieur she began when you heard m horton's cry of alarm in the court below madame i was standing with monsieur lavoe the pastry-cook at the angle of the wall just inside the loge of madame tupin and when you heard the cries what did you do asked the girl i waited a a moment in fear and then with m l'Avo went toward the entrance were there some others there

we madam a number of persons came running into the court they seemed to spring from the earth as if by magic and were you among the first to rush up the stair yes madam there were but two or three before me and whom did you find on the second landing monsieur otton and a lady who told us that the murder had been committed and you went with him up the stair yes monsieur a policeman had come rushing in and we all mounted to the third floor was it dark out there on the third floor landing not dark but game the studio door was open and threw a light outside and what did you do then some rushed into the studio we were all greatly excited i stood in the hallway some went to the small hall-room the door of which was partly open it was dark inside the hall-room we madame dark you have testified that one of the crowd went into the small hall-room and came out saying that no one was there no madame no one was there i and m lavo went into the room made a light and verified the statement of the man who had come out moira clasped and unclasped her hands nervously and when she spoke again her throat was dry with uncertainty monsieur jubert you will please listen very carefully to my question and tried to answer very accurately,

Yes, madame. You say that one of the crowd who had come up the stair with you examined the room, did you see him come out of the door? Yes, madame, I saw him come out. She paused significantly, and then with emphasis. Did you see him go in, Monsieur Jubert? Jubert stared at her stupidly for a moment, and Monsieur Mathieu and the judge leaned forward, of the intent of the question as the man did not reply it was the jige d'instruction who broke the silence impatiently yes yes monsieur hubert he questioned sharply did you see him go in

the truth m's hubert gasped moira jubair scratched his head and shuffled his feet awkwardly no madame i can't really say that i did did any of the other others seem go in here m simon broke in quietly pardon madame but that is a question the other weaknesses must answer moira glanced at him and then at m matioux perhaps you can inform me monsieur le commissaire she said have any of the witnesses who testified to see this man come out of the door also testified to seeing him go in many persons went into the room madame later monsieur she broke in quickly later after this man who had come out had mingled with the crowd and gone down the stair monsieur matthieu started madame he gasped listen monsieur jubert she went on earnestly and answer me truthfully for the life of a human being hangs on your replies teach you know some of the people in the crowd who rushed up the people who rushed up the stair as to that we madam said jubert more easily most of them i knew they are of the neighbourhood m lavo monsieur l'avaux m piquin of the lavoire m gabrielle and others but this man who came out of the door of the hall-room she insisted clearly you had never seen him before jubair shrugged now that you mention it madame i think that is the truth are you sure that you never saw him in the neighborhood no madame i never saw him in this neighborhood

moira gasped in relief aware that the commissaire from contempt from indifference had been reduced to the silence of consternation she saw it in his face and in the eyes of m simon who stood beside her listening in admiration and ready to aid her with advice or question he was on her side now but she was reserving her strongest stroke for the last and she delivered it with growing assurance for in her heart all along she had known through whom and by whom the murder must have been committed monsieur jubert she asked coolly you say the light was dim in the corridor was it too dark for you to see what the man who came out of the door looked like it was dim madame but i remember him perfectly you could identify him if you saw him i think so madame good perhaps i can describe him to you monsieur jubert he was not a large man. He was smaller than you, with broad but bent shoulders, long arms like an apes, which reached nearly to his knees, a thin face, small black eyes, a nose like the beak of an eagle. Joubert had started back in astonishment. It is he, madame, you have described him, and when he walked, he had a slight limp of the left leg. A limp, madame, it is true,

cried Joubert, the very same. He limped. I saw it as he. he came forward that would be all monsieur joubert said moira wearily and when the man had gone out she turned to m simon with a smile of triumph have i made outer case monsieur le juge perfidement madame but the murderer he urged she grew grave at once the man i've described is m trecoe the two men exchanged glances we have all taken steps he will be found madame said the commissaire all the police of paris are on his trail i pray god jemmy find him said moira quietly and even if we do not madame said m simon you have created already a reasonable doubt and then with a mischievous look toward monsieur matioux but i think perhaps it would be as well if you took m le comissaire into your confidence m Mathieu aware of the position the judge d'instruction had now taken was silent but still incredulous I should like to hear the other facts upon which you base this testimony he said slowly Monsieur Simon waved his hand toward the mannequin its frozen gesture now almost prophetic

tell monsieur le commissaire what happened in this room as you have traced it madame moira glanced at the commissaire who bowed his head in an attitude of attention which had in it not a little of humility the murderer lay in wait for m jim horton said moira there is no doubt in my mind as to that the petit bleu was the lour this studio the trap the affair had been planned with skill the motive was vengeance and a desire to prevent certain papers from bruce was reach in the hands of m le duke de votrins this man tricoe was already in the studio when m horton and madame morin arrived perhaps monsieur le commissaire has already guessed where go on madame said matthieu gravely he had taken the clothing from the mannequin and put the lay figure out in the darkness on the ledge outside the north window then he went and stood in the place of the lay figure he had put on the old skirt and bolero jacket and slouch hat and about his shoulders was the gray drapery he had only to remain silent and motionless he was prepared to spring upon and stab monsieur jim horton when his back was turned but the appearance of madame morin disconcerted him he had counted on a quick death without an outcry madame morin knew him he did not dare to attempt to kill them both and so he waited sa perlotte m horton and madame morin examined the studio in curiosity and then went out into the hall now suspicious that all was not as it should be m trecote did not dare to go until he was sure that they had gone

he was about to take his leave when he heard a man's footsteps upon the stair and went back to his position on the model stand the man entered he thought that it was monsieur jim horton come back alone but it was not jim horton it was my husband harry horton his twin brother the testimony shows that their clothing was much alike their faces were the same trico saw my husband's face for a moment under the low gas light as he came in the door locking it behind him god knows why my my husband was here i don't he came to spend the night perhaps to wait for me she paused breathing hard her words scarcely audible but a word from m simon encouraged her again this tricoe is desperate and very strong he sprang upon my husband and killed him but there was a sound of struggle and the noise of a fallen body which m jim horton and his companion heard from the door of the room in the hall they came out and weapon in hand jim horton after several minutes broke in the door but by this time the murderer had taken his place again as the lay figure just as he stood when they had first entered the room in their horror at their discovery they passed him by and rushed down the stair and then madame nodded the commissaire he ran quickly to the window outside which he had put my lay figure dragged it in hurriedly dressed it in its clothing and restored it to its place then ran out and hid in the darkness of the hall-room intending to leap out to the roof below but he did not dare it with his injured leg resorting to the clever device which i have indicated to you

of going out when the crowd swarmed excitedly up to the studio door and announcing that no one was there then messieurs in a moment he had mingled with the crowd and was gone and how did you learn this madame by a trifle which even your experienced eyes had overlooked this monsieur and she produced a small piece of torn cotton cloth from her pocket it was torn from the manikin upon a projecting piece of tin and hung from the gutter outside you have only to apply it to the leg of the mannequin monsieur le the bewildered police officer took the small object and turned it over in his fingers then went to the lay figure while m simon showed him the stains at the armpits and upon the thigh explaining the line of reasoning the girl had employed he raised his head and looked at her but his voice was that of a broken man my honor my reputation are in your keeping him madame he muttered but moira caught him by the hands in an access of generosity i render them to you monsieur if monsieur le juge keeps silent you may be sure that i shall do so you are very good madame it is not your fault you were not familiar with the studio as i was and besides you were doing your duty while i it was my life my whole happiness that was involved and what can i do to repay you madame he asked find m trecourt she cried with spirit and m queen levin asked the judge quietly

moira glanced at them then sank upon the couch and buried her head in her arms but she did not reply she could not she had reached the end of her resources m simon bent over and touched her kindly on the shoulder you had better be going and getting some rest madame if you will permit me i am sure that madame simon will be glad if you will let me bring you to her moira looked up at the dark stain upon the floor the terrible mannequin and then rose there were tears in her voice as she gave the gige d'instruction her hand in gratitude ah thanks monsieur you're very kind if it will not trouble you and leaving the theatre of her life's drama to the solitary policeman on guard she followed the charitable m simon down the stair m matthieu had already disappeared end of chapter twenty four chapter twenty five of the splendid outcast by george gibbs this libervox recording is in the public domain recording by tony oliva conclusion jim horton passed the night pacing the floor of his prison and his interrogation by m simon the juge d'instruction with the assistant of the commissaire de police in the morning gave him little hope of release the examination was severe but his inquisitors had not been able of course to shake his testimony and had left his cell more puzzled than when they had entered it but he had since enough to see that unless it were proven possible for someone to have been in the studio to commit the murder all the evidence must point to him and yet he could not help them nor could he suggest a line of investigation

he was still completely in the dark about the whole tragic affair and could scarcely blame them for their uncompromising attitude toward himself and poor piquette toward her also he sat upon the edge of the edge of his own of his cot for hours after the examination, his head in his hands, trying to evolve some possible explanation of the mystery. A more encouraging affair was the visit in the late afternoon of a captain of the regular army of the United States, representing the judge-advocate general's office, who interviewed him in the presence of an officer of the prefe de police. and in the course of this investigation, Jim Horton learned of Harry's second defection from the army, which had resulted in his horrible death. Captain Warring questioned shrewdly, but Jim Horton now needed no encouragement or threat to reveal the whole truth, for whatever

happened to him at the hands of the prefe de police, he knew that there was nothing left for him but to throw himself upon the mercy of the army officials. And so he told the whole story, from the moment when, as corporal of engineers, he had heard the infantry major's instructions to his brother, of his meeting with Harry, of his effort to save his brother's name and position by attempting to carry out the major's orders, the changing of uniforms, the fight at Poitier-wood, the hospital and the events that had followed in Paris, leaving out what references he could to Harry's wife, and palliating where he could his brother's offenses against the military law. From sternness, he saw Captain Warring's expression change to interest, from interest to sympathy,

and to Horton's surprise, when the officer finished taking the testimony, he extended his hand frankly you have committed a military offense corporal horton but your story has impressed me it can be easily verified i will do what i can for you at headquarters it was your quadr you see thank you sir said jim but it looks as though i'm in a bad position here do you think i could have done this horrible thing do you no said the captain but sit tight corporal i think you'll find that things will turn out all right what did the man mean jem horton followed his neatly fitting uniform out of the cell with his gaze and then more mystified than ever at this mingling of good fortune and bad sank again upon his cot to try and think it out but he was no sooner seated than the man who had done the most to put him where he was monsieur matthieu the commissaire de bullies again entered the cell his manner during the examination by the jige d'instruction in the morning had been aggressive wharton's ordeal had been most unpleasant the french counterpart of what he had heard of in his own country as the third degree but monsieur matthieu's ugly face was now almost kindly its expression was quite calm and while horton wondered what was the meaning of the visit the commissaire explained evidence has been introduced into this case monsieur which somewhat changes its complexion ah you have found tricot or quinlevin no not yet monsieur but we have hope

the evidence came from another quarter we believe that the apache committed this crime horton couldn't restrain her gasp of relief it is only what i told you monsieur monsieur matioux nodded but you will not blame us for not accepting with some reserve the testimony of a person in your position who has testified monsieur madame horton and in a few words he described the line of procedure which had resulted in the discovery of the part the lay figure had played in the tragedy moira had come to the rescue moira whose eyes it seemed had been keener than his own keener even than those of this veteran detectives and amazement at the simplicity of the device and the ease with which it had been put into practice made him dumb it is always so monsieur the mysteries which seem most difficult to solve are always the simplest in conception but trico did not invent this crime monsieur the apache is shrewd but the brain that conceived this plan i believe you now monsieur but i am afraid that he will not be easy to catch he was at fontainebleau last night and this morning it was his alibi when my men reached there he had gone and trico it is as to trico that i wish to see you we have watched the house in the richard every haunt of men of his type is under observation i thought perhaps you might give us a further clue emmy poachar should know

poachar in the rue d'almou under arrest he may talk good monsieur the help that you give us will make your deliverance the more speedy i know nothing more you understand it is not possible to release you until the evidence is more definitely confirmed but i will do what i can for your comfort and convenience thanks and for madame morin yes monsieur she is i think now quite contented and the commissaire departed as rapidly as he had entered presently jem horton lay down at full length on his bed the first time since he had been shown into the cell everything would be right he knew it and it was moira who had come from her retreat at the first news of his trouble and pickets to help them behind the reserve of monsieur matthieu's disclosures he had read that it was moira's will her intelligence that had been matched against that of the commissaire and berry quinlevin her instinct her faith in him that had drawn her unerringly to the neglected clues where was she would she come to him now or was the hypnotic spell of bernard Quinlivan still upon her. He stared into the darkness, thinking of the tragedy of Moira's life and the greater tragedy of his brother Harry's. But in spite of the terrible climax of Harry's strange career and his own unwitting part in it, Jim Horton found himself repeating Moira's wild words, no divorce but death.

and this was the divorce that neither of them had wished for nor dreamed of, but destiny, which had woven the threads of Harry's life and Moira's and his, together for a while, had destroyed the imperfect tissue to begin anew. In a while Jim Horton slept soundly, dreamlessly. The morning dragged heavily, and no one came to his cell. It almost seemed that Monsieur Mathieu had forgotten him, and it was not until the afternoon that he was again conducted to the room in which his examination and pickets had taken place. There he was brought face to face with the judge d'instruction, who shook him by the hand and informed him that word had just been received that the Apache, Crico, had been captured and, in charge of

Monsieur Mathieu, was to be brought at once to confront the witnesses. Monsieur Simont informed him that a partial confession having been extracted from Trichot, the case was simplified and that there seemed little doubt that he would be restored to freedom in a few hours, while disposing of the case. some other cases m matthieu showed the prisoner into the inner room where piquette had preceded him they were both still technically prisoners but that did not prevent piquet from springing up from beside her guard and rushing to meet him oh m'n jim she cried joyfully i knew he could not be for long piquette they're going to set us free we m'un braves an av you not heard it is madame orton who has made the way clear they captured tricot an hour ago in a cellar out near the port may you may know that i am happy and she made a queer little sound of repulsion in her throat and quinleven escape gone they cannot find him he sat beside her and they cannot find him he sat beside her and they

talked while they waited what are you going to do piquette he asked after a while to just go on leaving mon vieu what else she replied calmly i want to help you to get away from him pickett sapriestee i need no help for that don't worry mon ami i shall be happy not with monsieur she laughed rather harshly oh la la you are not the only man in the world and then as she saw the look of pain in his eyes she caught him by the arm again you are the only man in the world for her mon vieu but not for me you think of me well you say forget it i shall be happy and free at this moment m simon entered bringing no less a personage than m de vautrin who had been apprehended as a way witness the moment he had returned to Paris and the details of the affair at Nice having been set down m simon went out to question tricoe who had just been

brought in under heavy guard the birth certificate and other papers were still in possession of the judge d'instruction but the duke had been permitted to examine them and question Horton and piquette eagerly as to what had happened after his departure from niece and when he learned the facts his gratitude expressed itself in a desire to kiss horton on both cheeks which piquette only frustrated by quickly interposing her small person and i olivier she asked in french with a spirit of diableri what is my reward for helping in the great affair you piquette he laughed you are as ever my angelic child who can do no wrong come to my arms but pickett laughed and tossed her chin and if i refuse then you are still an angelic child said de vaughtrains i shall give you money much money and if i refuse that too she asked he started a pace back from her in amazement you would desert me now ma petite piquette's face grew suddenly solemn yes monsieur le duc we shall make no more pretenses you and i i go back to the cartier where i am free perhaps one day i shall marry then you shall give me a present but now and she extended a hand adieu my ami he glanced at her and at horton as though unwilling to believe what he had heard

then took a pace toward piquette his arms extended but she only smiled at him c'estinie olivier she said quietly de vaotrin pulled at his long moustache and laughing turned away ah de mien piquette he said confidently adieu olivier she repeated the duke stared at her again and then with a shrug took up his hat and then with a shrug took up his hat and stick and swaggered out of the room. Piquette, whispered Horton eagerly. Do you mean it? Yes, mon brave, she returned lightly. To be free, free. And she took a long breath, while she gazed past him out of the big window into the sunshine. There was a commotion outside, and they turned to the outer door as two policemen entered. between them tricoe securely manacled and followed by the jige the commissaire de police Madame Tupin Moira Madame simon the carpenter Paul Jubert and the other witnesses whose testimony had

already been taken Moira's gaze and Jim Horton's met for a moment full of meaning for them both and then she turned away to the seat besieubert side m simon to which the juge directed her she was very pale and set for a while with eyes downcast during the preliminaries which led to the confession of the apache tricoe stood with bowed head listening to the evidence against him his long arms hanging from his bent shoulders his thin lips compressed his small eyes concealed by the front of the front of his long arms hanging from his bent shoulders his thin lips compressed his small eyes concealed by the front frowning thatch of his dark brows he was surly but indifferent as to his fate and answered the questions of m simon in a low voice but distinctly evading nothing his identification by the carpenter and to others as the man who had emerged from the room in the hallway when the crowd had surged upon the upper landing caused him to shrugged the corroboration of madame tupin who saw him leave the courtyard after the murder only caused him to shrug again i did it he growled i confessed what's the use silence commanded the juge you will answer only when questioned are these two persons indicating horton and piquette the ones who first entered the studio they are and

and when m le capitan entered the studio you thought he was his brother yonder indicating jim i did i made a mistake and your motive for this crime i was paid he muttered how much five thousand francs by whom trico paused and then gasped the name m quinlevin do you know where mrs quinlevin is now no would you tell if you knew yes have you anything further to say no m simon waved his hand in the direction of the door take him away the proof is now complete and then to the witnesses you will hold yourselves in readiness to attend the trial bonjour messieurs and rising from his chair at the head of the table he came over to jim and piquette and shook them warmly by the hands while mrs matthieu who had taken no part in the proceedings quickly followed his example you are now free monsieur horton madame morin i thank you both in the name of justice for your indulgence and apologize for the inconvenience that has been caused you had it not been for the keenness of madame horton yonder you would still doubtless have been languishing in your sails thanks monsieur said horton gravely let me add m horton that before the murderer arrived i was in consultation with monsieur le capitaine waring of the office of the judge-advocate of the american army i told him what had happened in the case and he informed me that there was no disposition to make you suffer for an act which resulted in the case qua de guerre he empowers me to ask only for your parole to report to him to-morrow morning at ten o'clock to comply with the military law i should say that in the end you will have nothing to fear

thank god muttered horton half to himself and now m le commissaire said the judge with a smile madame simon madame morin perhaps we had better leave monsieur the american to give his thanks to the lady who has helped us to liberate him madame horton piquette horton turned around to look for her but she had gone the others were already filing out of the door and suddenly jim and moira found themselves silent face to face by the big window in the sunlight amazed at the sudden termination of the case and what it meant to them their glances met and a gentle flush stole along the pallor of moira's face suddenly flooding it from brow to chin scarcely daring to believe this evidence of his happiness jim stared at her awkwardly and then took a pace forward moira he whispered at last thank god she murmured he took her in his arms gently as though she were a child and held her silently in a moment of wordless communion beyond the river below them the city of their tribulations murmured as before but to them it held a note of solace and of joy you did this moira you he said at last something stronger than i jim faith hope and charity he added i knew that i must succeed she went on quickly i was driven by some inward force which gave me new courage and strength it was faith jim the faith in you that my blindness had lost in the darkness my uncertainty the faith that i found again

i had to succeed where others had failed faith gave me new vision just in time she finished with a gasp you never believed that i could have no never jim she broke in in a hushed voice not for a moment it was too horrible she hid her eyes with a hand for a moment as though to blot out the stain of the thought i've wondered why they didn't see as i saw it's like a dream all that afternoon after fontainebleau i hardly seem to remember why i did what i did it seemed so easy now that it's done i only know that i prayed again and again that you not he should triumph quinlevin he muttered she drew closer into his arms he has escaped she said with a shudder perhaps it is best did you find out he began but she broke in quickly reading his thought he was my uncle my father's brother nora told me everything you've blamed me in your thoughts jim no moira yes i know she insisted but i couldn't forget the long years of his kindness until i knew what it happened the horror of it i ran away here even then i did not tell them everything and when they went to take him it was too late he's gone you poor child you've suffered i wanted to go to you jim that night when they came to the studio i wanted to and again at nice but i was afraid jim afraid of myself if i'd gone to you then i love had been so sweet a thing jim so pure and beautiful i couldn't let it be anything else i had never known what love was before i'd never known what love was before i

i am afraid she whispered but not now dear no none of myself or of you only afraid that it's all a dream that i'll wake up imprisoned by vows that may not be broken you're released from them now moira he said soberly yes jim and you'll marry me dear yes jim but it would be a sin for us to be too happy too soon i can be patient you won't be needed to be too patient, Jim, she whispered her warm lips on his. He held her in the hollow of his arm, where she was meant to be, both of them muttering the phrases that had been so long delayed while their eyes looked down toward the sunlit river, when suddenly Jim felt the girl's fingers tighten in his, and he followed the direction of her gaze. Across the petit-pon, just below them a figure passed, a female figure in a heavy coat, with a small hat that they both recognized, set rakishly upon a dark head.

Piquet, said Moira, Jim was silent, and they watched for another moment. Piquette paused for a moment on the bridge, and then, raising her head quickly, squared her shoulders and went quickly along the quay, toward the bushet, st michel where she was engulfed in the crowded thoroughfare end of chapter twenty-five end of the splendid outcast by george gibbs