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Stout, Rex, 1886-1975

"Under the Andes"


All this I saw in a flash, when suddenly Harry's fingers sank
into the flesh of my arm with such force that I all but cried out
in actual pain. And then, glancing at him and following the
direction of his gaze, I saw Desiree.
She was standing on the top of the lofty column in the center of
the lake.
Her white body, uncovered, was outlined sharply against the black
background of the cavern above.

Chapter XXII.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END.

Neither Harry nor I spoke; our eyes were concentrated on the
scene before us, trying to comprehend its meaning.
It was something indefinable in Desiree's attitude that told me
the truth--what, I cannot tell. Her profile was toward us; it
could not have been her eyes or any expression of her face; but
there was a tenseness about her pose, a stiffening of the muscles
of her body, an air of lofty scorn and supreme triumph coming
somehow from every line of her motionless figure, that flashed
certainty into my brain.
And on the instant I turned to Harry.
"Follow me," I whispered; and he must have read the force of my
knowledge in my eyes, for he obeyed without a word. Back down the
passage we ran, halting at its end.


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