Page:The leopard's spots - a romance of the white man's burden-1865-1900 (IA leopardsspotsrom00dixo).pdf/388

 "You mean to say that I have no standing whatever in the case?" asked Gaston with a smile, rubbing his hand over his smooth shaved lips and chin.

"Exactly. I've settled it. There's nothing more to be said."

"I'll never give her up. She is the one woman God made for me, and you will have to put me under the ground before you have settled my end of it," said Gaston still smiling.

The old man's face clouded for a moment, he wrinkled his brow, drew his bushy eyebrows closer and then turned toward Gaston in a persuasive way.

"Look here, Gaston, don't be a fool. It's amusing to me to hear a youngster talk such drivel. Love is not a fatal disease for a man, or a woman. You will find that out later if you don't know it now. I loved a half dozen girls, and when I got ready to marry, I asked the one handiest, and that seemed most suited to my temper. We married and have lived as happily as the romancers. The world is full of pretty girls. Go on about your business, and quit bothering me and mine."

"There's only one girl for me, General!"

"That's proof positive to my mind that you are a little cracked!" he answered with a smile.

Gaston laughed and shook his head. "I'll never give her up in this world, or the next," he doggedly added.

Again the General frowned. "Look here, young man, did it ever occur to you that your pursuit might be held the work of a low adventurer? My daughter is an heiress. You haven't' a dollar. Don't you know that I will disinherit her if she marries without my consent?"

"You can't frighten me on that tack," answered Gaston firmly. "No dollar mark has yet been placed on the doors of Southern society. Manhood, character and achievement are the keys that unlock it. You know