<h3 class="newchapter2">A REED SHAKEN BY THE WINDS OF PASSION.</h3>
<p>Rupert Venner sat on the floor of his prison, tugging at his chains with
an absent, aimless, all but perpetual motion; for he had long since
convinced himself that his fetters could not be broken or loosed. The
ruby light that had shown him the food and wine placed for him had faded
away to the faintest red glow which scarcely sufficed to reach the
tabouret. That mattered little; Venner had eaten when he was hungry,
drunk when dry, and knew the position of the flagon and dish to the
ultimate inch. He was not caring about the light. His mind was filled to
the exclusion of all else with his plight and the predicament of his
schooner.</p>
<p>"Confound me for a fool!" he mused aloud, gritting his teeth savagely.
"Led by the nose by a saucy little chit who knows how to display her
charms as well as her pearls!"</p>
<p>He pondered over his situation with growing irritation; for he knew only
too well that his release could never be obtained by bribery; his keen
sense of values told him that neither in the yacht or at home could he
match the treasures he had already seen on the persons of Dolores, and
Pascherette, and the other women of the camp. Yet he tried to console
himself that after all these things might be displayed for his
impression; might in fact be the entire store of the pirate queen,
displayed for one gaudy, overpowering effect.</p>
<p>"That's it!" he cried, striking fist to palm. "Just a theatrical trick.
That little jade, Pascherette, will sell her dark little soul for
diamonds or pearls, I'll wager, and she shall sell me liberty. Then I'll
see the queen creature, gaining entry by the same medium, and we shall
see if cultivated wits are not a match for this wild beauty."</p>
<p>With something very like a smile of resignation Venner stretched himself
on the floor and composed himself to rest. He was quite certain that
Pascherette could be reached through his jailer, whoever that might
be—Milo or somebody else—and the entire plan seemed to him beautifully
simple and infallible. He dozed, awoke, dozed again, and the ruby light
seemed to intensify each time his eyes opened. Gradually the shaft of
light grew so strong that, focused on his closed eyes, it forced him to
full wakefulness; and now he stared hard at it, blinking, hypnotized by
the trembling radiance that seemed to shoot out from the main shaft
until a great moving circle of light appeared before him. And out from
the midst of the light stepped Dolores, bewitching, irresistible,
smiling down upon him with a tenderness that filled him with awe.</p>
<p>Amazed, dazzled, the man sat up, quivering with a sensation that rippled
at his hair-roots and sent the blood singing to finger and toe-tips. And
Dolores, with one forefinger at her scarlet lips to enjoin silence,
glided toward him with her inimitable grace, and knelt before him
shaking her head and starting him on the way to intoxication with the
touch of her wonderful hair.</p>
<p>"My friend, I grieve that thou art here," she said, and her glowing eyes
thrilled him afresh. "Wilt thou believe that it is necessary for a
while?"</p>
<p>"Necessary?" repeated Venner, dazedly. He strove hard to burst into
angry protest, but his tongue refused to utter the harsh words in the
face of such a creature of beauty. "I don't understand why it is<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_476" id="Page_476">[Pg 476]</SPAN></span>
necessary at all, lady. It is no choice of mine, or my friends, that our
schooner is aground and we are your prisoners!"</p>
<p>"Ah, my friend, thou shalt understand," she answered, and laid a hand on
his shoulder, making his senses swim with the fragrance of her breath.
"But this is for thy ears alone. Thou wilt respect my confidence?"
Venner nodded, wondering if, after all, the adventure might not turn out
well. With Dolores so close to him that he could hear her tunic rustling
to her deep, even breathing, that her loosened hair continually brushed
his face, he would have nodded assent had she offered him a piece of
charcoal for his immortal soul. "Then listen, man of my own people. A
longing gnaws at my heart—this heart that beats under thy hand"—she
took his hand with a swift movement and pressed it to her breast—"a
longing to go far from this place and these brutish people, to thy land
and the land to which I belong.</p>
<p>"And now must I say why thy ship is here? It is because I have chosen
thee, my friend, to free me from this detestable bondage." She paused
for a breath, leaning closer to him, then asked with a sudden grip of
his hand at her breast: "Wilt take me out into thy world?"</p>
<p>Venner shifted uneasily beneath her blazing eyes. His soul was in
torment with the touch of her; yet somewhere back of his trained brain
lingered a spark of wit not yet extinguished along with his other wits
by her spell. He lowered his gaze and said:</p>
<p>"Was there need to murder my crew, wreck my vessel, and fling me and my
friends into these cells? Could not you, who are queen here, board my
schooner yourself and ask a passage?"</p>
<p>"The murder of thy crew was not of my seeking. And thinkest thou I would
go from here leaving behind my treasures? Or dost fancy my rascals would
permit me to carry them away? No, friend, it is not so simple. The man
who aids me to attain my desire must be strong and wise and true. He
shall mate with me, and my treasures shall be his. That is why I have
chosen thee."</p>
<p>"That requires thought, lady," returned Venner, half-heartedly. "I would
assist you in getting free from this, since you wish it; but as for
mating or marriage, why, there is a woman at home waiting for me."</p>
<p>"Woman!" Dolores cried with scorn. "Woman! I am Dolores!" She swayed
toward him, her arms went about his neck, and slowly, slowly her
glorious eyes fastened on his, her moist, warm lips sought his in a kiss
that dragged at his soul's foundations.</p>
<p>"Canst refuse me?" she laughed softly, drawing back her head and peering
at him from under lowered lids. "See, I trust thee utterly!" Snatching
her dagger from the sheath she placed it in his right hand; then, with a
key from her girdle, she unfastened his chains and swayed back, still
kneeling. She clutched the single shoulder-strap of her tunic, tore it
from her bosom, and flung both arms wide apart. "See!" she whispered,
and Rupert Venner flung away the dagger, stumbled to his feet, and swept
her into his crushing embrace while she abandoned herself to him with a
long, quivering sigh.</p>
<p>"By the gods!" he swore hoarsely, "show me what I have to do. Wonderful,
wonderful Dolores!"</p>
<p>"Patience," she smiled, resting her head on his breast. "First tell me
thy name. What shall thy Dolores call thee?"</p>
<p>"I am Rupert. Call me slave!"</p>
<p>"Rupert. It is a name to love. Slave? Nay, it is I who shall be slave to
thee. But patience again, Rupert. When we two go from here, there can be
no other to share our secret; none save the slaves that I shall place in
thy ship to replace thy dead crew. Thy friends may not go. They must not
live to see thee go!"</p>
<p>Venner shivered, and drew back, holding her at arms' length and staring
at her in horror.</p>
<p>"What are you saying, Dolores?" he gasped. "My friends are to die?"</p>
<p>"Yes, and by thy hand, my Rupert. For how else may I know thou are
worthy to be mate to a queen?"</p>
<p>"Now, by Heaven! Witch, siren, whatever you are, my madness has passed!"
he cried. "Not for the key to a paradise peopled with such as you would
I do this!" He stepped aside, picked up her dagger, and glared at her
with steely eyes.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_477" id="Page_477">[Pg 477]</SPAN></span>Dolores laughed at him: a low, throaty little laugh that went clear to
his brain and set it on fire again. Yet, nerving himself against her, he
stood erect, dagger in hand, and met the blaze of her dusky eyes
bravely. He shivered violently when her rich voice thrilled his tingling
ears.</p>
<p>"Hah, my Rupert, thou'rt not yet tamed. Let me show thee thy master!"</p>
<p>With the words she reached him with her subtle, tigerish glide, swiftly,
startlingly, and with the dart of a cobra her hand gripped his which
held the dagger. Her warm body again pressed closely to him, her red
lips, parted still, almost touched his cheek; her hair smothered him
with its fragrance; and while his senses swam her supple muscles tensed
to living steel wire, her grip tightened and twisted at his wrist, and
the dagger was wrenched from his fingers. Then leaping back, laughing
mockingly now, Dolores slipped the dagger into the sheath, snatched up
the chains from the floor, and flew upon him with a deadly pounce that
bore him back to the wall.</p>
<p>Aroused from his numbness, Rupert Venner fought back furiously,
humiliated, and ashamed. Whether he would or not, he forgot all his
chivalry, and strove to meet this appalling woman with strength against
strength; but in Dolores he met a thing of wire and whipcord where
moments before had been a creature of warm softnesses; a being of feline
agility, and devilish skill that reflected the devilish skill of her
teacher, Milo. The chain-links tinkled and clashed against their swaying
bodies, but she never let them fall; they hung from her girdle; her
hands were free; and she had both his wrists in a grip that outrivaled
the irons. Laughing, ever laughing, her hot breath playing over his
face, she placed one foot behind one of his, surged toward him heavily,
and, when his arms would have involuntarily gone out to preserve his
footing, she subtly twisted them back and up from the elbows, until she
rested against his chest with her bare arms tightly about his body.</p>
<p>Now her head, with the gold circlet about the brows, pressed hard
against his chin. Her hair was in his mouth, tendrils of it stung his
eyes, but the gold band numbed his flesh and bruised the bone. Upward,
ever upward, she forced his chin until his neck was cracking with the
strain and he choked for breath. Then she suddenly relaxed. Her arms
left him, her wickedly lovely face once more smiled into his starting
eyes, and she took the chain from her girdle with leisurely swiftness,
falling to her knees at his feet.</p>
<p>"There, my friend, thou art back in thy place!" she said, snapping on
his ankle irons. "Spend the night in thought, good Rupert. To-morrow I
shall come to thee again for thy decision. Now, pleasant dreams,
my—lover!" she whispered, suddenly slipping her arms about his neck
again and pulling his head hard against her panting breast. She softly
kissed his hair, then pressed back his head and kissed his lips long and
passionately.</p>
<p>"Good night, beloved!" she said, and passed out of the room, leaving
behind the echoes of a rippling little laugh that set Venner's blood to
leaping.</p>
<h2 class="newchapter"><SPAN name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></SPAN>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
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