g on the temple a red, coagulated
spot, Ferragut tried to raise her up.

"No; leave me so," she murmured. "I prefer to be at your feet. I am
your bondslave ... your plaything. Beat me more if it will appease your
wrath."

She wished to insist upon her humility, offering her lips with the
timid kiss of a grateful slave.

"Ah, no!... No!"

To avoid this caress Ulysses stood up suddenly. He again felt intense
hatred toward this woman, who little by little was appealing to his
senses. Upon stopping the flow of blood his compassion had become
extinguished.

She, guessing his thoughts, felt obliged to speak.

"Do with me what you will.... I shall not complain. You are the first
man who has ever struck me.... And I have not defended myself! I shall
not defend myself though you strike me again.... Had it been any one
else, I would have replied blow for blow; but you!... I have done you
so much wrong!..."

She was silent for a few moments, kneeling before him in a supplicating
attitude with her body resting upon her heels. She reached out her arms
while speaking with a monotonous and sorrowful voice, like the specters
in the apparitions of the theater.

"I have hesitated a long time before seeing you," she continued. "I
feared your wrath; I was sure that in the first moment you would let
yourself be overpowered by your anger and I was terrified at the
thought of the interview.... I have spied upon you ever since I knew
that you were in Barcelona; I have waited near your home; many times I
have seen you through the doorway of a cafe, and I have taken my pen to
write to you. But I feared that you would not come, upon recognizing my
handwriting, or that you would pay no attention to a letter in another
hand.... This morning in the Rambla I could no longer contain myself.
And so I sent that woman to you and I have passed some cruel hours
fearing that you would not come.... At last I see you and your violence
makes no difference to me. Thank you, thank you many times for having
come!"

Ferragut remained motionless with distracted glance, as though he did
not hear her voice.

"It was necessary to see you," she continued. "It concerns your very
existence. You have set yourself in opposition to a tremendous power
that can crush you. Your ruin is decided upon. You are one lone man and
you have awakened the suspicion, without knowing it, of a world-wide
organization.... The blow has not yet fallen upon you, but it is going