A low moan of salacious gratification escaped the parted lips of Bella, as she felt the jerking gushes of seminal fluid which came from the excited member within her; at the same moment the lustful frenzy of emission forced from Charlie a sharp and thrilling cry as he lay with upturned eyes in the last act of the sensuous drama.

That cry was the signal for an interruption which was as sudden as it was unexpected. From out the bordering shrubs there stole the sombre figure of a man and stood before the youthful lovers.

Horror froze the blood of both.

Slipping from his late warm and luscious retreat, and essaying as best he could to stand uprigh, Charlie recoiled from the apparition as from some dreadful serpent.

As for the gentle Bella, no sooner did she catch sight of the intruder than, covering her face with her hands, she shrank back upon the seat which had been the silent witness of her pleasures, and too frightened to utter a sound, waited with what presence of mind she could assume to face the brewing storm.

Nor was she kept long in suspense.

Quickly advancing towards the guilty couple the newcomer seized the lad by the arm, while with a stern gesture of authority, he ordered him to repair the disorder of dress.

"Impudent boy, " he hissed between his teeth, "what is that you have done? To what lengths have your mad and savage passions hurried you? How will you face the rage of your justly offended father? How to appease his angry resentment when in the exercise of my bounden duty. I apprise him of the mischief wrought by the hand of his only son. "

As the speaker ceased, still holding Charlie by the wrist, he came forth into the moonlight and disclosed the figure of a man of some forty-five of age, short, stout, and somewhat corpulent. His face, decidedly handsome, was rendered still more attractive by a pair of brilliant eyes, which, black as jet, threw around fierce glances of passionate resentment. He was habited in a clerical dress, the sombre shades and quiet unobstructive neatness of which drew out only more prominently his remarkably muscular proportions and striking physiognomy.