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character.She had been taught to believe that he was the representative of a
certain European power, and that he was working in the interests of humanity.
John Warwick was too honest to speak to her of love without telling her that
he was a criminal of a sort--and The Spider had forbidden him doing that. He
knew that Silvia Rodney returned his love, and was wondering why he did not
ask her to become his wife.
Warwickhad been a ruined man when he had joined The Spider's band. But,
because of his excellent work, he had gathered a small fortune again; and The
Spider, by way of reward, also had engineered a campaign on the Stock Exchange
that had nettedWarwick almost a quarter of a million dollars.
Warwickwas all right financially now, yet he remained true to The Spider, not
through fear of what might happen to him if he left the supercriminal's band,
but out of gratitude to The Spider for his help.
There were times when John Warwick wished that he might marry Silvia Rodney
and cease his nefarious work. It had not been so very nefarious at that. The
Spider and his followers committed thefts, but generally on the side of right.
Ill-gotten gains were what they generally took from their victims; and now and
then The Spider contracted to obtain and return something that had been
procured by improper means from its rightful owner. There were worse criminals
than The Spider and his people, but nevertheless, what they did was outside
the law.
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Warwickstopped the roadster in a grove beside the highway and helped Silvia
Rodney out.
"Dear young lady," he said, "we will walk about one hundred feet through
these woods and come to a high place overlooking a bend in the river. It is
the most beautiful spot in the entire state, especially at this time of the
year."
Warwickled the way through the brush, and finally they emerged on the top of
a giant rock at the river's edge. Silvia gave a little cry of delight at the
scene that unfolded before them.
A great river was at their feet, curving into the distance, and the woods on
both shores were dressed in red and brown and gold. In the far distance, they
could see the city.
They sat down on a fallen log to watch the scene--and John Warwick sighed
again.
"Why--why not say it, John?" Silvia Rodney whispered to him, after a time.
"Pardon?"
"Must I say it?" she asked.
"My word!Whatever can you mean?"
"John Warwick, there seems to be some deep and dark mystery about you," the
girl said. "Perhaps it is forward of me to speak in this way, but I flatter
myself that I am a modern young woman, not bound by every silly and
narrow-minded convention--and I always like to have mysteries solved. John
Warwick, you have been in--in love with me for a year!"
"Certainly, my dear little lady!"Warwickreplied. "What man would not be?"
"John Warwick, I want you to know that I am speaking seriously. A woman
always can tell when a man really is in love with her. And--and I should
think--that a big, wise man--could tell when a girl--was really in love with
him."
"My word!"
"And you know that I--well, that I am!" she gasped. "And yet you--you never
speak of it. I suppose that it must be because I am not good enough for you."
"Oh, my word!You're a great girl--and I'm a regular rotter, really."
"I know better than that--you are nothing of the sort!" she declared. "And
I'll not have you defaming yourself in that way! Perhaps it isn't at all nice
for me to speak in this way, but I must have an explanation, John. I--I cannot
go on in this way! Is it that you don't--want me?"
"Oh, my dear girl!"
John Warwick turned away from her and looked up the broad river. He had faced
charging elephants and infuriatedtigers, he had been in many a close corner
during his work for The Spider, but never in his life before had he faced an
ordeal such as this. The charming girl who sat at his side was more
formidable, in her way, than a jungle filled with wild beasts.
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"What is it, John?" she asked now. "Is it something that you cannot tell me?"
"I--I am not good enough!" he replied.
"John Warwick, I have been investigating you a bit. Alice Norton has spoken
to me about you a hundred times, and she has known you from boyhood. You have
been a good, clean man, John. You were a bit wild in college, and just after
you graduated, but your wildness consisted mostly of globe-trotting and
huntinglions, and things like that."
"I suppose so,"Warwick sighed.
"There is nothing in your past life that would keep a nice girl from becoming
your wife."
"My word!Regular paragon--what?Example to be held up to erring youth, and all
that sort of thing!"
"Now you are trying to make me laugh and change the subject. And I refuse to
do anything of the sort, John Warwick! We are going to have an explanation [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]