ied to kiss me!"
"The man who tries to kiss a woman against her will is always at heart a
coward," said the mountaineer.
The colonel seized the old man by the shoulder to push him aside. The
other never so much as stirred. He put out one of his arms and clasped
the colonel in such a manner that he gasped. He was in the clutch of a
Carpathian bear.
"Well, my little soldier?" said the mountaineer, his voice even and not
a vein showing in his neck.
"I will kill you for this!" breathed the colonel heavily.
"So?" The old man thrust him back several feet, without any visible
exertion. He let his staff slide into his hand.
The moment the colonel felt himself liberated, he drew his saber and
lunged toward his assailant. There was murder in his heart. The two
women screamed. The old man laughed. He turned the thrust with his
staff. The colonel, throwing caution to the four winds, surrendered to
his rage. He struck again. The saber rang against the oak. This
dexterity with the staff carried no warning to the enraged officer. He
struck again and again. Then the old man struck back. The pain in the
colonel's arm was excruciating. His saber rattled to the stone flooring.
Before he could recover the weapon the victor had put his foot upon it.
He was still smiling, as if the whole affair was a bit of pastime.
On his part the colonel's blood suddenly cooled. This was no accident;
this meddling peasant had at some time or other held a saber in his hand
and knew how to use it famously well. The colonel realized that he had
played the fool nicely.
"My sword," he demanded, with as much dignity as he could muster.
"Will you sheathe it?" the old man asked mildly.
"Since it is of no particular use," bitterly.
"I could have broken it half a dozen times. Here, take it. But be wise
in the future, and draw it only in the right."
The gall was bitter on the colonel's tongue, but his head was evenly
balanced now. He jammed the blade into the scabbard.
"I should like a word or two with
Notka biograficzna
Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine CH, KBE (May 14, 1853August 31, 1931), usually known as Hall Caine, was a British author. He is best known as a novelist and playwright of the late Victorian and the Edwardian eras. In his time he was exceedingly popular and at the peak of his success his novels outsold those of his contemporaries. Many of his novels were also made into films. His novels were primarily romantic in nature, involving the love triangle, but they did also address some of the more serious political and social issues of the day.
Harold MacGrath (September 4, 1871 - October 30, 1932) was a bestselling American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. Also known occasionally as Harold McGrath, he was born in Syracuse, New York. As a young man, he worked as a reporter and columnist on the Syracuse Herald newspaper until the late 1890s when he published his first novel, a romance titled Arms and the Woman. According to the New York Times, his next book, The Puppet Crown, was the No.7 bestselling book in the United States for all of 1901. From that point on, MacGrath never looked back, writing novels for the mass market about love, adventure, mystery, spies, and the like at an average rate of more than one a year. He would have three more of his books that were among the top ten bestselling books of the year. At the same time, he penned a number of short stories for major American magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, and Red Book magazine. Several of MacGraths novels were seriali
Mabel Collins (9 September 1851 - 31 March 1927) was a theosophist and author of over 46 books. She was born in St Peter Port, Guernsey.