at has hardened your heart against me."

The Duke was a suitor of the romantic school: each phrase was studied,
each attitude as obviously planned as a military campaign. It was a
method which had invariably succeeded, until his efforts with the
Princess of Aragon. Yet, he was too satisfied with bygone results to
abandon the time-tried artistries of former victories.

The Princess dropped her eyes before the undeniable questioning of his
burning glances. As she looked away, he assured himself that he had
scored.

"My brother ... what do you know of him, Carlos? When did you see him
last? Have you been in Seguro?"

Two long whistles, and the vibration of the great steamship evidenced
the beginning of the long voyage. The answer to the questions was still
more pathetic in cadence.

"Ah, how I dread telling you!... I was there a few days before leaving
for America. I learned, unfortunately, that despite my very friendly
advice, he had been prowling about that ridiculous old castle again, in
search of the mythical treasure your grandfather is supposed to have
secreted there."

He laughed, and the girl instinctively shuddered with a newborn
distrust. There was no mirth in the sound.

"You heard nothing more? Was he well and safe when you left the town?"

"He was as well and safe as I would consider any man who was prowling
about that castle in a foolhardy way."

She wished to get rid of him: that ominous trunk might contain a dead
man, for all she knew.

"How did you find me? Why did you come to America?"

"What could have brought me here but love and anxiety for you?"

She turned away impatiently and walked toward the cabin porthole.

"Oh, come, Carlos. The ship is almost in mid-stream. Let us go out on
deck, for one last look at America."

"Thank you; I can do very well without it!" he retorted, as he sat down
upon the trunk. "My dear Maria, why do you not desist from this silly
pursuit of an imaginary treasure? What is the value of money--we are
Spaniards, not shirt-sleeved, mercenary pigs of Americans! We strive
for it, only to obtain the happiness and luxury which it brings. Can it
bring any greater happiness than that which I have so many times laid
at your feet--the love and honored name of a man who would protect and
worship you? You have wonderful beauty and family rank. I have power,
influence at Court, and an unconquerable ambition. Mine is the
intellect to conceive, the heart to dare, and the wil