"At length we meet,
my brother," said he. "But this time you shall not hinder me in my work.
This time I am the conqueror!"
"No, no, that you are not!" cried Carlo, beside himself with pain and
rage. "Confess what you want in this house--confess, or you are a dead
man!"
And with a drawn dagger he rushed upon his opponent!
A frightful struggle ensued. Natalie, in her night-dress, pale as a
lily, knelt upon her bed and prayed. She had folded her hands over her
breast, directly over the place where the papers confided to her by
Paulo, in a little silken bag, always hung suspended by a golden chain.
"Grant, O my God," prayed she--"grant that I may keep my promise to
Paulo, and that I may defend these papers with my life!"
And the two brothers were still struggling and contending; like two
serpents they had coiled around each other, and held each other in their
toils.
"Flee, flee, Natalie!" groaned Carlo, with a weakened voice--"flee away
from here! I yet hold him, you are yet safe! Flee!"
But in this moment the maiden thought not of her own danger. She thought
only of Carlo. Springing from her bed, with flashing eyes she boldly
threw herself between the contending men.
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