en and the officers fell back as Castine and Ferrol clinched in a
death struggle. Ferrol knew that his end had come. He had expected it,
hoped for it. But, before the end, he wanted to kill this man, if he
could. He caught Castine's head in his hands, and, with a last effort,
twisted it back with a sudden jerk.

All at once, with the effort, blood spurted from his mouth into the
other's face. He shivered, tottered and fell back, as Castine struck
blindly into space. For a moment Ferrol swayed back and forth, stretched
out his hands convulsively and gasped, trying to speak, the blood
welling from his lips. His eyes were wild, anxious and yearning, his
face deadly pale and covered with a cold sweat. Presently he collapsed,
like a loosened bundle, upon the steps.

Castine, blinded with blood, turned round, and the light of the fire
upon his open mouth made him appear to grin painfully--an involuntary
grimace of terror.

At that instant a rifle shot rang out from the shrubbery, and Castine
sprang from the ground and fell at Ferrol's feet. Then, with a
contortive shudder, he rolled over and over the steps, and lay face
downward upon the ground-dead.

A girl ran forward from the trees, with a cry, pushing her way through
to Ferrol's body. Lifting up his head, she called to him in an agony of
entreaty. But he made no answer.

"That's the woman who fired the shot!" said a subaltern officer
excitedly. "I saw her!"

"Shut up, you fool--it was his wife!" exclaimed the young captain to
whom Ferrol had given his last message for Christine.

ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:

After which comes steady happiness or the devil to pay (wedding)
All men are worse than most women
I always did what was wrong, and liked it--nearly always
Illusive hopes and irresponsible deceptions
Men feel surer of women than women feel of men
She lacked sense a little and sensitiveness much
To be popular is not necessarily to be contemptible
Who say 'God bless you', in New York! they say 'Damn you!'

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pomp of the Lavilettes, Complete
by Gilbert Parker

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE POMP OF THE LAVILETTES, ***

***** This file should be named 6217.txt or 6217.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.net/6/2/1/6217/

Produced by David Widger

Updated editions will replace th