Seite 383 von 416

"And well you might. But he is the cause! And he wouldn't marry

her! I have waited for this chance of revenge, and now he shall

pay."

Caroline Fuller, who was even more beautiful than her sister,

looked at Nat in a kind of daze. Suddenly there was a spasmodic

working of her features.

"Oh, that I could ever have loved him!" she said in a faint

voice. "Here, Elsa, read it to them all!"

From under her cloak she drew a crumpled envelope which she

passed to her sister.

With a snarl like that of a wild animal Nat leaped from his chair

toward the girl, but Durkee struck him violently and he reeled

back into it.

"You swore you burned them all!" muttered Nat. "You swore it! You

swore it!"