him still held him. Slowly he drew back and with all the strength of his
nature fought for self-control. He called upon every force of his will,
and in that supreme moment his face hardened to the appearance of a
sculptured mask; all of its finely-drawn outlines seemed set in stone.

She turned angry shoulders to him and stirred the stones on the table
with impatient fingers until they rolled about, flashing darts of light.
Symbols of power, of material and deadening splendor; eternal
accompaniments of imperial magnificence! The sapphires sang triumph, the
diamonds conquest, the rubies passionate and fulfilled love.

"They are what you really care for." He spoke huskily; his voice sounded
thick and uncertain in his ears. "That and--and your wonderful dancing,
and applause--and success and money. It's natural that you should--but
it all makes me realize--clearly, that I can't even try to force myself
into your life. There's no place for me. Even--even if you were
kind--you sometimes seem to--to--to suggest that you would be--I'd be
just a useless cog, soon to be dropped. It's all complete without me.
But, for God's sake, I'm begging you, I'm begging you, Pearl, not to be
kind to me for the rest of the time that we're here together."

"And what about me?" she flashed. "You've thought everything out from
your own side, and you've just been telling it. Don't you think I've got
a side, too? I guess so."

He looked at her in surprise, the emotion that had changed and broken
his expression fading into wonderment and puzzle.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Kiss me, and I'll show you," she said audaciously. All the allurement,
the softness and sweetness of the south was in her mouth and eyes.

"How can we go on like this?" His voice was a mere broken whisper. He
yearned to her, leaned toward her, and yet refrained from holding her.

"Like _this_," she murmured, and threw her arms about him and laid her
head on his heart, her face upturned to his.

"I told you"--so close was she held that she scarcely knew that she was
breathing--"I told you--that if I once held you in my arms I'd never let
you go."

"You may have told yourself; you never told me before. But I'm content."

"Content! That's no word for this," he cried between kisses. The
mounting tide he had feared had become a mighty torrent sweeping away
all his carefully built up mental barriers, and with that obliterating
flood came a sense of power and freedom. Al