The Unknown Wrestler Part 27

"Surely you must know," she told him. "If I had the least spark of affection for you, which I did not have, it would have been quenched by your action at the dance in the hall, and what you did last night."

"Last night! What did I do last night?"

"You know as well as I do, and I think a great deal better. One who will hound on others to attack a lone man on a dark night is not worthy to be called a man, but should be listed with the brutes of the jungle."

An oath leaped from Ben's lips and he gripped Nell by the arm.

"Who told you that?" he growled. "How dare you make such a charge?"

"I dare make it because I know it is true. How I know it is my own affair. Let go my arm at once, and don't you touch me again."

Nell's eyes were blazing with anger now, and Ben shrank back cowed.

The serpent within him could not endure the righteous indignation of the pure and n.o.ble woman before him. He knew that what she said was true, and it roused him to an uncontrollable pitch of fury.

"Ah, I know where you got your information," he twitted. "I understand why you won't have anything more to do with me. It's Jake Jukes' hired man who is at the bottom of all this. Ah, I know. He's been around here with his d.a.m.n oily ways. That's the secret of the whole thing.

Oh, I understand it all now."

"You think you know more than you do," Nell quietly replied. "Mr.

Handyman has told me nothing. I have not seen him since the fight."

"But you saw him last night. He was at your house."

"How do you know that?"

"Oh, I know very well."

"You were spying upon us, I suppose, sneaking around and looking in at the window. Do you call that a manly thing to do?"

Ben was getting the worst of the conversation, and he knew it.

"I'll get even with that cur," he declared. "I'll show him a thing or two."

"There, I wish to hear no more of such talk," Nell replied. "I am going into the house." She started to leave, but Ben stopped her.

"Just a minute before you go," he growled. "You have thrown me over, and you think you are done with me. But, remember, Nell Strong, I'm not a man to be fooled with. You'll regret this sooner than you imagine."

"Is that a threat?" she asked. "You are careless of your words."

"You can call it what you like, I don't care. You may scorn me now, but my turn will come."

Waiting to hear no more, Nell left him, hurried into the house and closed the door. She partly expected him to follow her, so she stood for a while in the middle of the kitchen listening with fast-beating heart. After she had waited for several minutes and no sound was heard outside, she lighted the lamp and drew down the blinds. Then she sat down upon a chair by the side of the table and buried her face in her hands. She was very tired and almost heartbroken over what had just taken place. She knew how vindictive Ben would be, and when she thought of her helpless father and sister and what her decision might mean to them, she almost repented of her action. But when she thought of Ben and what a creature he really was, she felt that anything was better than to be in the least manner connected with him. Let him do his utmost, there would still be some way, surely, whereby they could make a living.

She sat thus for some time, and it seemed to her as if her brain must burst from the confusion of thought. She must do something to relieve her strained feelings. There was plenty to be done, and she at once began to fold some clothes which had been left over from the previous day's was.h.i.+ng, and which she had not had time to iron. Her fingers moved rapidly, keeping pace with her thoughts.

She had been engaged at this work but a short time when she heard a step at the door. Then there was the sound of some one lifting the latch. Could it be Ben coming? she asked herself. What would she do?

What could she say to him? As she stood there hesitating, the door slowly opened, and instead of Ben, Jean Benton stood before her. Nell breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her, though the expression upon the girl's face startled her.

"Oh, Jean!" she exclaimed, "how you did frighten me! Come and sit down, for you look tired."

Jean made no reply but stood there with her eyes fixed upon Nell's face. They were wild eyes, and they caused Nell to tremble. Was Jean mad? she wondered, and what would she do with her? What did she want, anyway?

"Won't you sit down?" she asked, not knowing what else to say.

Jean took a step or two forward, and so fierce was her look that Nell shrank back.

"Jean, Jean, what's the matter?" she demanded. "Why do you look at me that way?"

Jean suddenly lifted her right hand, and pointed her forefinger at the trembling woman before her.

"You stole him from me," she hissed. "You took him away when I needed him most. Ah, that is what you have done, and you needn't try to deny it."

For an instant Nell was unable to comprehend the meaning of Jean's words. Then the truth flashed upon her mind. The girl was mad with jealousy. She imagined that she had stolen Ben from her.

"Jean, Jean, listen to me," she pleaded. "I haven't taken Ben from you, if that is what you mean. He came to me of his own accord, and I have refused to have anything more to do with him."

"You lie!" the half-crazed woman cried. "I saw you together to-night, talking by the tree and by the house. His arm was around you. I saw it all, and you needn't deny it."

"Listen to me," Nell ordered, now much annoyed. "Won't you believe me?

I tell you I have not taken him from you. He was with me to-night for the last time. I told him to go and never to come back again. Why do you blame me? Ben is the one to blame. If he has deserted you, why don't you go to him?"

"He isn't to blame," Jean cried. "Don't try to clear yourself, Nell Strong. You have stolen him, and you know it. But you won't have him.

He shall never be yours."

Quick as a flash, Jean thrust her right hand into the bosom of her dress, and ripped forth a sharp knife. Like a tiger she sprang upon Nell. Instinctively the latter stepped back and raised her left arm to ward off the blow, which thus received the knife meant for her heart.

With almost superhuman effort Nell hurled her a.s.sailant from her, drew forth the knife from the quivering flesh, and threw it behind her. The blood was streaming from her arm, but she kept her eyes fixed upon the baffled girl before her, not knowing what she might do next. But the sight of blood seemed to satisfy Jean. She gloated over her deed, and with a wild mocking laugh, she opened the door and sped out into the night.

With a great effort Nell overcame the deathly feeling of faintness which came upon her. Quickly she locked the door, and then turned her attention to her injured arm. The wound was still bleeding profusely, and it was with considerable difficulty that she was at length able to stop the flow of blood. The gash was not as deep as she had first expected. The knife in falling had struck a glancing blow just below the shoulder on the outer part of the arm. For this Nell was thankful, but she shuddered as she thought of what her a.s.sailant really intended to do.

When the wound had been carefully bound up, Nell sat down by the side of the table and thought over what had just taken place. But for the pain in her arm she might have considered it nothing more than a terrible dream. She had never imagined that Jean, who in the past had been so gentle, good, and loving, could be so changed. But she knew that jealousy was the cause, and jealousy could be as cruel as the grave.

After she had burnt up the clothes with which she had staunched the wound, and wiped up the stains on the floor, Nell went slowly up to her own room. But she could not sleep, for the excitement through which she had recently pa.s.sed caused her brain to throb and her head to ache.

She tossed restlessly upon her bed, and finding that she could get no rest she got up and paced rapidly up and down the room. At times she thought she would go mad like Jean, as she recalled all that had taken place. She glanced into the mirror, and was astonished at the haggard face which confronted her there. What was she to do?

Presently her eyes rested upon her mother's picture hanging on the wall. She studied it lovingly and longingly, and then, "Mother!

Mother!" burst from her lips. "Oh, I want you, I want you! Come to me to-night, and comfort me as of old."

And as she stood there her mother's parting words came to her mind.

"Nellie," she had said, "you are young and a great responsibility rests upon you. You will fail if you try to bear it alone. There is One to Whom you can always go, and He will help you in all your troubles."

At once a new light came into her eyes. There was One who had promised to help. Why had she forgotten Him? Kneeling down by the side of her bed, she prayed as she had never prayed before. And as she thus knelt, a new peace stole into her heart, and it seemed to her as if a divine presence pervaded the room, bringing a restful balm to her weary body and mind.

CHAPTER XVIII

SILENT STRIFE

Douglas was hoeing corn on a patch of ground near the road. It was a beautiful day, and the air was filled with teeming life of bird and insect. But the silent worker was in no mood to enjoy the fair morning. He was thinking deeply of what he had witnessed down by the river the evening before. As far as he could tell, Nell and Ben were on most friendly terms, for he knew nothing of the stormy scene which had taken place between them.