They rushed in, Maria following, and would have gone to her, but she
waved them back and pointed at her father, her face dreadful with its
look of fear and hatred. "Listen! You--you must help me. You must make
that man swear what I want him to swear, and you must see that he
keeps his word! He must! He won't if he can help it. I know he won't.
Look at him! Look at his face. What do you read there? Pity? Love?
Sympathy? Sympathy for me? Do you? No! Fear! He is afraid that I will
make him swear, and I will--I will----!"
She rushed at him, staggered forward as though she would tear the
promise from him, but as they cried out and threw themselves between,
she stopped suddenly and, throwing up her arms, screamed once and fell
at their feet. Dr. Crossett knelt beside her and in a moment looked up
gravely.
"No pulse! Her heart does not beat. Quick, Martin!" He left her and
sprang to the table, seeking frantically for the electric switch that
would start the machine.
"No!" The father's voice came quietly, but his eyes never left the
figure that lay motionless on the floor.
"What!" John cried out in amazement.
"You must!" Paul Crossett put his hand out and shook the old man
almost roughly. "You must! She is your daughter!"
"She is not my daughter. My daughter died ten months ago. My
daughter's soul is with her mother's, as pure and as white as on the
day I first held her in my arms. I owe no duty to this creature here.
This empty shell from which the soul has been driven out. I am not her
father, but if I were, I still would say--in God's name--let her die!"
He had taken a heavy mallet in his hand, and as he spoke he brought it
down with all his strength upon the delicate mechanism in front of
him. He struck twice, and there was nothing left but a mass of broken
glass and a heap of bent and twisted wires.
THE END
GROSSET & DUNLAP'S DRAMATIZED NOVELS
THE KIND THAT ARE MAKING THEATRICAL HISTORY
May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list.
WITHIN THE LAW. By Bayard Veiller & Marvin Dana. Illustrated by Wm.
Charles Cooke.
This is a novelization of the immensely successful play which ran for
two years in New York and Chicago.
The plot of this powerful novel is of a young woman's revenge directed
against her employer who allowed her to be sent to prison for three
years on a charge of theft, of which she was innocent.
WHAT HAPPENED TO MARY. By Robert Carlton Brown. Illustrated with
scenes from the play.
This is a narrative of a young and innocent country girl who is
suddenly thrown into the very heart of New York, "the land of her
dreams," where she is exposed to all sorts of temptations and dangers.
The story of Mary is being told in moving pictures and played in
theatres all over the world.
THE RETURN OF PETER GRIMM. By David Belasco. Illustrated by John Rae.
This is a novelization of the popular play in which David Warfield, as
Old Peter Grimm, scored such a remarkable success.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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