"I warn you harm will come of it." "Let it come; I am past fear now."

"Shun me for Babie's sake, if not for your own."

"Too late for that; she is headstrong--let her suffer."

"Have you no power, Gilbert?"

"None over her, much over you."

"We will prove that!"

"We will!" Rapidly as words could shape them, these questions and
answers fell, and with their utterance the last generous feeling died in
Pauline's breast; for as she received the flowers, now changed from a
love token to a battle gage, she saw the torn glove still crushed in
Gilbert's hand, and silently accepted his challenge to the tournament so
often held between man and woman--a tournament where the keen tongue is
the lance, pride the shield, passion the fiery steed, and the hardest
heart the winner of the prize, which seldom fails to prove a barren
honor, ending in remorse.



Chapter III

For several days the Cubans were almost invisible, appearing only for a
daily drive, a twilight saunter on the beach, or a brief visit to the
ballroom, there to enjoy the excitement of the pastime in which they