er hand gripped his which
held the dagger. Her warm body again pressed closely to him, her red
lips, parted still, almost touched his cheek; her hair smothered him
with its fragrance; and while his senses swam her supple muscles tensed
to living steel wire, her grip tightened and twisted at his wrist, and
the dagger was wrenched from his fingers. Then leaping back, laughing
mockingly now, Dolores slipped the dagger into the sheath, snatched up
the chains from the floor, and flew upon him with a deadly pounce that
bore him back to the wall.

Aroused from his numbness, Rupert Venner fought back furiously,
humiliated, and ashamed. Whether he would or not, he forgot all his
chivalry, and strove to meet this appalling woman with strength against
strength; but in Dolores he met a thing of wire and whipcord where
moments before had been a creature of warm softnesses; a being of feline
agility, and devilish skill that reflected the devilish skill of her
teacher, Milo. The chain-links tinkled and clashed against their swaying
bodies, but she never let them fall; they hung from her girdle; her
hands were free; and she had both his wrists in a grip that outrivaled
the irons. Laughing, ever laughing, her hot breath playing over his
face, she placed one foot behind one of his, surged toward him heavily,
and, when his arms would have involuntarily gone out to preserve his
footing, she subtly twisted them back and up from the elbows, until she
rested against his chest with her bare arms tightly about his body.

Now her head, with the gold circlet about the brows, pressed hard
against his chin. Her hair was in his mouth, tendrils of it stung his
eyes, but the gold band numbed his flesh and bruised the bone. Upward,
ever upward, she forced his chin until his neck was cracking with the
strain and he choked for breath. Then she suddenly relaxed. Her arms
left him, her wickedly lovely face once more smiled into his starting
eyes, and she took the chain from her girdle with leisurely swiftness,
falling to her knees at his feet.

"There, my friend, thou art back in thy place!" she said, snapping on
his ankle irons. "Spend the night in thought, good Rupert. To-morrow I
shall come to thee again for thy decision. Now, pleasant dreams,
my--lover!" she whispered, suddenly slipping her arms about his neck
again and pulling his head hard against her panting breast. She softly
kissed his hair, then pressed back his head and kissed his lips long an