weetness!--"You did the brave thing whether you would or not.
You've got to take my word--all of our words--that you were a hero.
Just that. You jumped straight down and threw Toddy into the bushes
and then fell, and the chauffeur couldn't turn fast enough and he hit
you--and your head was hurt."

She spoke, and looked into his eyes.

"Is that the truth?" he shot at her. It was vital to know where he
stood, whether with decent men or with cowards.

"So help me God," the girl said quietly.

As when a gate is opened into a lock the water begins to pour in with a
steady rush and covers the slimy walls and ugly fissures, so peace
poured into the discolored emptiness of his mind. Suddenly the gate
was shut again. What difference did anything make--anything?

"You are married," he stated miserably, and stood before her. The
moments had rushed upon his strained consciousness so overladen, the
joy of seeing her had been so intense, that there had been no place for
another thought. He had forgotten. The thought which meant the
failure of happiness had been crowded out. "You are married," he
repeated, and the old grayness shadowed again a universe without hope.

And then the girl whose name was Hope smiled up at him through a
rainbow, for there were tears in her eyes. "No," she answered, "no."
And with that he caught her in his arms: her smile, her slim shoulders,
her head, they were all there, close, crushed against him. The bees
hummed over the roses in the sunshiny garden; the locust sang his
staccato song and stopped suddenly; petals of a rose floated against
the black dress; but the two figures did not appear to breathe. Time
and space, as the girl had said once, were fused. Then she stirred,
pushed away his arms, and stood erect and looked at him with a flushed,
radiant face.

"Do you think I'd let you--marry--a cripple, a lump of stone?" she
demanded, and something in the buoyant tone made him laugh unreasonably.

"I think--you've got to," he answered, his head swimming a bit.

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong," and she shook her finger at him
triumphantly. "I'm--going--to--get--well."

"I knew it all along," the man said, smiling.

"That's a lie!" she announced, so prettily, in the soft, buoyant voice,
that he laughed with sheer pleasure. "You never knew. Do you know
where I've been?"

"In Germany."

"I haven't been in Germany a minute." The bright face grew grave and
again the quick, rai