THE SOWERS.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9289, 14 December 1895, Page 2

THE SOWERS.

By Henry Seton Merriman.

Author of " With Edged Tools," &_. CHAPTER XXXVII.—A Deux. Stc-miiv>t_ laid Etta on a sofa. She was already recovering consciousness. He rang the bed twice, and all the while he kept his rye on do Ohauxvillc. A quick touch on Ktta's wri.it and breast showed that tin's man knew something of women and of those short-lived faiutiug fits that belong to strong emotions. The maid soon came. " The Princess requires your attention," said Steinmetz, still watching de Chauxville, who was looking at Etta and neglecting his opportunities. Steinmetz went up to him and took him by the arm. " Come with mc," he said. The Frenchman could have taken advantage of the presence of the servant to effect a retreat, but he did not dare to do so. It was essential that he should obtain a few words with Etta. To effect this he was ready even to face an inter-new with Steinmet*'.. In his heart he was cursing that liability to inconvenient fainting fits that make all women unreliable in a moment of need. He preceded Steinmetz out of the room, forgetting even to resent the large warm f;rasp on his arm. They went through the ong dimly lit passage to the old part of the castle, where Steinmetz had his rooms. " And now," said Steinmetz, when they were alone with closed doors, "and now, De Chauxville, let us understand each other." De Chauxville shrugged his shoulders. He was not thinking of Steinmetz yet. He was Btill thinking of Ktta and how he could get speech with her. With the assurance which had carried him through many a difficulty before this, tho Frenchman looked around him, taking in the details of the room. They wore in the apartment beyond the large Btnoking room—the ante-room, as it were, to the little chamber where Paul kept his medicine chest, his disguise, all the compromising details of his work among the peasants. The broad writing-table in the middle of the room stood between the two men. " Do you imagine yourself in love with the Princess?" asked Steinmetz suddenly, with characteristic bluntr.ess. "If you like," returned the other. " If I thought that it was that," said the German, looking at him thoughtfully, " I would throw you out of the window. If it is anything else, I will only throw you downstairs." Da Chauxville bit his thumbnail anxiously. He frowned across the table into Stcinmetz's face. In all their interpourse he had never heard that tone of voice ; he had never seen quite that look on the heavy face. Was Steinmetz aroused at last? Steinmetz aroused was an unknown quantity to Claude de Chauxville. "Ihave known you now for twenty-five years," went on Karl Steinmetz,. "and I cannot say that I know any good of you. But let that pass ; it is not, I suppose, my business. The world is as tho good God made it. I can do nothing towards bettering it. I have always known you to be a scoundrel—a fact to be deplored—and that is all. But so soon as your villainy affects my own life, then, my friend, a. more active recognition of it is ncceusary?" "Indeed !" sneered'the Frenchman. " Your villainy has touched Paul's life, and at that point it touches mine," continued Karl Steinmetz, with slow anger, "You followed us to Petersburg —thence you dogged us to the Government of Tver. You twisted that foolish woman, the Countess Lanovitch, round your linger, and obtained from her an invitation to Thorn. All this jn order to be near one of us. Ach ! I have been watching you. It is only after twentyfive years that I at last convince you that I am not such a fool as you are pleased to consider mc?" " You have not convinced mc yet," put in De Chauxville with his easy laugh. "No, but I shall do so before I have linished with you. Now, you have not come here for nothing. It is to be near one of us. It is not Miss Delafield; sho knows you. Soma women—good women—have an instinct given to them by God for a defence against such things as you, Is it I ? " He touched his broad chest with his two bands, and stood defying his life-long foe. "Ia it mc that you follow? If so, lam here. Let us have none with it now." De Chauxville laughed. There was an uneasy look in hia eyes. He did not quite understand Steinmetz. He made no answer. But he turned and looked 1 at the window. It is possible that he suddenly remembered the threat concerning it. " Is it Paul ? " continued Steinmetz. " I chink you are afraid of Paul. Remains the Princess. Unless you can conviuce mc to the contrary, I must conclude that you are trying to get a helpless woman into your power." " You always were a champion of helpless ladies," sneered De Chauxville. "Ah! You remember that, do you? I also—l remember it. It is long ago, and I have forgiven you ; but I have not forgotten. What you were then you will be now. Your record is against you.^' Steinmetz was standing with his back to what appeared to be the only exit from the room. There were two other doors concealed in the oaken panels, but De Chauxville did not know that. He could not take his eyes from the broad face of his comE anion, upon which there were singular lotohes of colour. "I am waiting," said the German, "for you to explain your conduct." "Indeed!" replied De Chauxville. *• Then, my friend, you will have to continue waiting. I fail to recognise your right to make inquiry into my movements. I am not responsible to any man for my actions, least of all to you. The man who manages his neighbour's affairs mismanages his own. I would recommend you to mind your own business. Kindly let mc pass." De Chauxville's words were brave enough, but his lips were unsteady. A weak mouth •s apt to betray its possessor at inoonvenient moments. He waved Steinmetz aside, but lie made no movement towards the door. He kept the table between him and his companion. Steinmetz was getting calmer. There was an uncanny hush about him. " Then I am to conclude," he said, " that you came to Russia in order to persecute a helpless woman. Her innocence or her .uilt is, for the moment, beside the question. -Neither is any business of yours. Both, on the contrary, are my affair. Innocent or guilty, the Princess Howard-Alexis must from this moment be freed from your persecution." De Chauxville shrugged his shoulders. He tapped on the floor impatiently with the toe of his neat riding-boot. •• Allons !" he said. " Let mc pass." *' Your story of Sydney Bamborough " went on Steinmetz coldly, " was a good one wherewith to frighten a panic-stricken woman. But you brought it to the wrong person when you brought it to mc. Do you suppose that I would have allowed the marriage to j v ,ake place unless I knew that Bamborough j was dead ? " " You may be telling the truth about that incident or you may not." said De Chauxville. " But my knowledge of the betrayal j of the Charity League is sufficient for my purpose." ] '•Yes," admitted Steinmetz, grimly., "You have information there with possibilities of mischief in it. But I shall discount most of it by telling Prince Pavlo tonight all that I know, and I know more than j you do. Also, I intend to seal your lips j before you leave this room." De Chauxville stared at him with & drooping lip. He gulped down something in his throat. His hand, was stealing round under the fur jacket to a pocket at the back of Ids trousers. " Let mc out!" he hissed. There was a gleam of bright metal in the sunlight tii:il poured in through the window. De ChauxviUe raised his arm sharply, and at tiie same instant Steinmetz threw a hook in his face. A loud report, and the room was full of smoke. SU'inmr-i;' placed one hand on the table, nml, despite his weight, vaulted it- cleanly. This man had taken his degree at Heidelberg, and the Germans ar« the finest gymnasts in the world. Moreover, muscle, once made, , cumins till death. It was his only chance, for the Frenchman had dodged the novel, but it spoilt his aim. Steinmetz vaulted right on 10 him, and De Chauxville staggered back. "In a moment Steinmetz had him by the %»Uar; hia face was gray,- his heavy eyes

ablaze. If anything will rouse a man, it is being fired at point blank at a range of four yards with a .280 revolver. " Ach !" gasped the German, " you would shoot mc, would you ? " He wrenched the pistol from De Chauxville's lingers, and threw it into the corner of the room. Then he shook the man like a garment. " First," he cried, " you Avould kill Paul, and now you try to shoot 1112. Goad Go.I! what are "you? You are no man. Dd 3*oll know what I am going to do with you? I am going to thrash you, like a dog." He dragged him to the fire-place. Above the. mantelpiece a stick-rack was affixed to the wall, and here were sticks and riding whip 3. Stcinmetz selected a heavy whip. His eyes were shot with blood ; his mouth worked beneath hi:< moustache. "So," he said. " I am going to settle with you at last." De Chauxville kicked and struggled, bat he could not get free. He only succeeded in half-choking himself. "You are going to swear," said Steinmetz, "never to approach the Princess -i"?.in—neve; - to divulge what you. know of her past life." The Frenchman was almost blue in the face ; his eyes were wild with terror. And Karl Steinmetz thrashed him. It did not hist long. No word was .spoken. The silence was only broken by their shnfiiing feet, by the startling report of each blow, by Da Chauxville's replaced gasps of pain. The fur jacket was torn in several places. The white shirt appeared here and there. In one place it was stained with red. At last Steinmetz threw him huddled into one comer of the room. The chattering face, the wild eyes that looked up at him, were terrible to see. " When you have promised to keep the secret you may go," said Steinmetz. " \on must swear it." De Chauxville's lips moved, but no sound came from them. Steinmetz poured some water into a tumbler, and gave it to him. " It had to come to tin's," he said, " sooner or later. Paul would have killed you ; that is the only difference. Do you swear by God in Heaven above you that you will keep the Princess's secret ?'" "I swear it," answered De Chauxville hoarsely. Steinmetz was holding on to the back of a high chair with both hands, breathing heavily. His face was still livid. That which "had been white in his ej'es was quite red. D?. Chauxville was crawling towards the revolver in the corner 01" the room, but he was almost fainting. It was a question whether he would last long enough to reach the firearm. There was a brigtit patch of red in either liver-coloured cheek ; his lips were working convulsively. And Steinmetz saw him in time. He seized him by the collar of his coat and dragged him back. He placed his foot on the little pistol and faced De Chauxville with glaring eyes. De Chauxville rose to his feet, and for a moment the two men looked into each others souls. The Frenchman's face was twisted with pain. No word wa3 said. Such was the last reckoning between Karl Steinmetz and the Baron Claude de Chauxville. The Frenchman went slowly towards the door. He faltered and looked round for a .hair. He sat heavily down with a little exclamation of pajn and exhaustion, and felt for liis pocket-handkerchief. The scented cambric diffused a faint dainty odour of violets. He sat forward with hi 3 two hands on his knees swaying a little from side to side. Presently he raised his handkerchief to his face. There were tears in hia eyes. Thus the two men waited until Da Chauxville had recovered himself sufficiently to take his departure. The air was lull of naked human passions. It was rather a gruesome scene. At last the Frenchman stood slowly.up, and, with characteristic thought of appearances, fipgeved his torn coat. "Have you a cloak?" asked Steinmetz. "No." " The German went to a cupboard in the wall and selected a long riding-cloak, which he handed to the Frenchman without a word. Thus Claude de Chauxville walked to the door in a cloak which had figured at many a Charity League meeting. Assuredly the irony of Fate is a keener thing than any poor humour we have at our command. When evil is punished in this present life there,is no staying of the hand. Steinmetz followed De Chauxville through the long passage they had traversed a few minutes earlier and down the broad staircase. The servants were waiting at the door with the horse put at the Frenchman's disposal by Paul. De Chauxville mounted slowly, heavily, with twitching lips. His face was set and cold now. The pain was getting bearable, the- wounded vanity was bleeding inwardly. In his dull eyes there was a gleam of hatred and malice. It was the face of a man rejoicing inwardly over a deep and certain vengeance. "Itis well," he was muttering between his clenched teeth as he rode away while Steinmetz watched him from the doorstep. "It is well. Now I will not spare you." He rode down the hill and through the village with the light of the setting sun shining on a face where pain and deadly rage were fighting for the mastery. (To be continued.)