e cardinal principle of their
code--_loyalty to her marriage vows_. They had taught her to believe
that this breach was the one unpardonable sin.

She drew a little stiletto from the folds of her dress, placed its point
upon her heart and said: "It is not necessary that a gypsy should live;
but it is necessary that she should be virtuous!"

Her resplendent beauty, her fearless courage, her invincible
determination quenched the wild impulses of the reckless youth in a
single instant. All the manhood, all the chivalry of his better nature
rose within him and did homage. He threw himself on his knees and
frantically besought her pardon.

In an instant the fierce light died from her eyes. She stooped down,
laid her hand on his arm, and with an all-forgiving charity lifted him
to his feet. They stood regarding each other in silence. All that their
souls could reveal had been manifested in actions. The brief scene was
terminated by a common impulse. They turned their faces toward the city
and walked quietly, each reflecting silently upon the struggle that had
been enacted and the denouement which was yet to come.

In her ignorance and inexperience, Pepeeta hoped that a scene so
dreadful would quench the madness in her lover's soul; but this
revelation of the grandeur of her nature only inflamed his desires the
more. The momentary feeling of shame and penitence passed away. His
determination to possess her became more fixed than ever and during the
homeward walk assumed a definite form.

For a long time a sinister purpose had been rolling about in his soul.
That purpose now crystallized into resolution. He determined to commit a
crime if need be in order to gain his end.

Nothing can be more astonishing than the rapidity and ease with which
the mind becomes habituated to the presence of a criminal intention.
The higher faculties are at first disturbed, but they soon become
accustomed to the danger, and permit themselves to be destroyed one
after another, with only feeble protestations.

CHAPTER XIV.

TURNED TEMPTER

"All men have their price."
--Walpole.

The plan which David had chosen to compel Pepeeta to abandon her husband
was not a new one. For its execution he had already made a partial
preparation in an engagement to meet the justice of the peace who had
performed her marriage ceremony. The engagement was conditioned upon his
failure to persuade the gypsy to accompany him of her own free w