In Sight of St. Paul's — page 135: what you’re looking at

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

130 THE PANTHER AT BAY. tively, ‘‘what then? He might insist on loving me still. Men do sometimes!”’ This last with an intonation partly regretful, partly proud, ‘‘Give me the opportunity to meet my brother. That is all I ask.”? It was absurd for Tom to feel so hopeful, for where is the man, even though he be a brother, that can hope to compete with a woman, however unworthy she may be? Pure motives go for nothing where passion comes in question. The Panther paused for a moment. Perhaps she was wavering, perhaps she was wondering how far she could fool this man who was attempting to save his brother from what he believed to be ruination. ‘““Yes,’’ she said, at last, asif coming to a resolu- tion, ‘“‘yes, vou shall meet him! You shall speak to him here before me. I will say nothing more. I will even urge him to leave me, to love meno more. If he consents,’’ and she could not repress a proud smile as, even while she was more or less sincere, the thought came to her that he would not consent, ‘‘well, it shall be good-by forever. But, if he refuses, as frankly I pray he will, I suppose we shall go to -the bad, faster than before.’ Tom was anything but hard-hearted, and, in spite of all that was at stake, he could not help being EOMmIGcbookssGo m