The Argosy, March 1907 — page 17: what you’re looking at

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

“Nevertheless, you will gain it, Gardiner,” she insisted. “ You have ac- complished too much ever to falter or fall back now. You cannot deceive me with any pretended assumption of faint- heartedness. I will wager that your ul- timate goal is plainly before your sight right now, and that you will never rest until you attain it.” 7 “Well, perhaps,” he admitted, think- ing of the chance which had opened up to him that very day; then, with an au- dacious inspiration, although - secretly he was trembling a bit at his own te- merity, he added: ‘But in the days of old, Phoebe, when a lady sent a knight forth to fight drag- ons and to perform other deeds of valor she always gave him some guerdon to inspire him at critical moments. [ think,”’ insinuatingly, ‘‘ that I shall suc- ceed much better in my battles if I have some such token from you—a glove from your hand, say, or a rose you have worn in your hair.” . The significance of his request, for all its bantering tone, was not lost upon her, and again her flower-like face glowed crimson under the flame of his ardent eyes; but she did not hesitate. Quickly she raised her hand to her shoulder and unpinned a knot of rib- bon resting there. ‘This she fastened to the lapel of his coat, at the same time saying, with a laughing affectation of ceremony, as though to rob the inci- dent of any deeper meaning: “There, take your. guerdon, Sir Knight. . Fight under my colors, and be you gentle, brave, and courteous!” Gardiner caught her hand as she fin- ished and raised it to his lips. “ You have given me my inspiration! ” he cried. “ May I 3 But he failed to end the sentence, for at that moment the door banged open and there entered upon the scene Mr. Stonefield, closely followed by young George Burns. CHAPTER VTi. DECLINED WITHOUT THANKS. PHOEBE’S explanation of the mistake which had admitted Gardiner into the ‘house turned out, as the sequel proved, to be correct. The man at the door, un- ‘THE PLACE, THE TIME, AND THE MAN. 589 derstanding it was Burns who was | wanted, had raised no question, but had despatched another servant to look up- the young fellow and inform him that a caller awaited him in Mr. Stonefield’s ci den.”’ Accordingly, George, having been noti- fied after some delay, proceeded thither at once, and naturally was somewhat surprised to find the girl he had left in a swooning condition only fifteen min- utes before now chatting in a lively and apparently intimate fashion with an utter stranger. So engrossed were the two in each other’s society, he also observed, that they had completely failed to mark his en- trance, and he therefore quietly retired behind. the portiéres, in order that, him- self unseen, he might learn the sig- nificance of their téte-d-téte. He had not long to wait before he dis- covered the identity of the other man, and then, with the old dislike for Davis fanned into fresh activity by jealousy, he had softly withdrawn to seek the girl’s father and inform him of what was taking place. Mr. Stonefield more than once during his upward career had suffered uneasy twinges of conscience over the persecu- tion he had inflicted upon the Davis -family ; and as it is an undeniable axiom that we most hate those whom we have most injured, the news aroused in him an anger wholly disproportionate to its cause. “That contemptible scoundrel here in my house,” he exclaimed, “ and mingling unbidden among my guests! It’s like his brazen impudence; but what can Pheebe be thinking of to permit it, if she really knows that it is he? ”’ “Oh, she knows, all right,’’ Burns as- sured him. “TI heard her calling him by name.” “Ah!” rejoined the other; “ I remem- ber now she used to have, as a girl, an utterly unwarranted sympathy for the cur on account of the troubles he brought upon his family. Believed him to have high ambitions, and noble ideals, and all that sort of thing. “ Well, she’ll not indulge in any such mawkish folly here, I can tell her,” de- terminedly seizing a big stick out of a rack and starting for the den. “ Per-~ comicbooks.com