Page:The traitor; a story of the fall of the invisible empire (IA traitorstoryoffa00dixo).pdf/221



N TAKING leave of Ackerman Stella went immediately to her room to select her dress and plan her campaign for John Graham's reception in the evening.

A feeling of reaction depressed her. The passionate warmth and tenderness of his love remained a haunting memory. A sense of loneliness crept into her heart. She began to see that she was playing a desperate game with the great stake of a human life as the issue. The consciousness of its possible tragedy began to be dimly felt. She sat staring idly at the gowns she had piled on the big tester bed without being able to make a selection.

"I've begun a daring task," she mused. "The wit and beauty of a girl of twenty against the iron will and personality of a man of genius. A man just entering his thirtieth year, who has looked Death in the face on the field of battle and dared defy the power of the Government that has crushed him. Can I win?"

The closer she had drawn to John Graham in