ere full upon that face; until he was able to see clearly, there
in the better light of that room, all the solicitude that had softened
the hard lines of the lean jaw. It was hard to believe, after all that
he had passed through, and yet he knew that it could not be
possible--he knew that that voice could not belong to any man who had
been nursing a maniacal vengeance behind a cunningly calm exterior.

There was no light of madness in those eyes which were studying him
so steadily--studying him with unconcealed anxiety. Old Jerry could
not have told how it had come about; but there in the light, with
four good solid walls about him, he realized that a miracle had
taken place. Little by little his slack body began to stiffen;
little by little he raised himself. Once he sighed, a sigh of
deeper thankfulness than Young Denny could ever comprehend, for
Young Denny did not know the awfulness of the peril through which
he had just passed.

"Godfrey" he thought, and the exclamation was so poignantly real
within him that it took audible form without his knowledge. "Godfrey
'Lisha, but that was a close call! That's about as narrer a squeak as
I'll ever hev, I reckon."

And he wanted to laugh. An almost hysterical fit of laughter
straggled for utterance. Only because the situation was too precious
to squander, only because he would have sacrificed both arms before
confessing the terror which had been shaking him by the throat, was he
able to stifle it. Instead, he removed his drenched and battered hat
and passed one fluttering hand across his forehead, with just the
shade of unsteadiness for which the affair called.

"Yes, I'm a-feelin' better now," he sighed. "Godfrey, yes, I'm a sight
better already! Must 'a' been just a little touch of faintness, maybe.
I'm kinda subject to them spells when I've been overworked. And I hev
been a little mite druv up today--druv to the limit, if the truth's
told. Things ain't been goin' as smooth's they might. Why--why, they
ain't nobody'd believe what's been crowded into this day, even if I
was to tell 'em!"

He filled his lungs again and shoved both feet closer to the oven
door.

"But that fire feels real nice," he finished; "real nice and
comfortin', somehow. And maybe I could stop just a minute." The old
hungry light of curiosity was kindling again, brighter than ever
before, in the beady little eyes. "As you was remarkin', back a
stretch, you'd been a-waitin' for me to come along. W