ng his parched
hand, and lingering fondly over the flushed, unconscious face.

He sank lower and lower day by day--so very low that the physician said
he could do no more. He must leave the case. There was nothing for it but
to wait with patience the workings of nature.

At last, the day came when the ravings of delirium subsided and a deadly
stupor intervened. It was the crisis of the disease. The sundown would
decide, Dr. Grayson said; he would be better, or death would ensue.

Alexandrine heard his opinion in stony silence. She sat by the bed's-head
now, calm and silent; her powers of self-control were infinite. Her
mother came in to watch for the change, as did several of Archer's
friends, heretofore excluded. She was not afraid for them to come;
there was no danger of Mr. Trevlyn criminating himself now. He had not
spoken or moved for twelve hours.

The time passed slowly. The sun crept down the west. The ticking of the
watch on the stand was all that broke the silence of the room. The last
sun ray departed--the west flamed with gold and crimson, and the amber
light flushed with the hue of health the white face on the pillow.
Alexandrine thought she saw a change other than that the sunset light
brought, and bent over him.

His eyes unclosed--he looked away from her to the vase of early spring
flowers on the centre-table. His lips moved--she caught the whispered
word with a fierce pang at the heart:

"Margie!"

The physician stepped forward, and sought the fluttering pulse. His face
told his decision before his lips did.

"The crisis is passed. He will live."

Yes, he would live. The suspense was over. Alexandrine's labors were
shared now, and Archer did not know how devotedly he had been tended--how
he owed his very existence to her.

He mended slowly, but by the middle of May he was able to go out. Of
course he was very grateful to the Lees, and their house was almost the
only one he visited. Alexandrine was fitful and moody. Sometimes she
received him with the greatest warmth, and then she would be cold and
distant. She puzzled Archer strangely. He wanted to be friends with her.
He felt that he owed her an immense debt of gratitude, and he desired to
treat her as he would a dear sister.

Perhaps it was because time hung so heavily on his hands that Trevlyn
went so frequently to Mrs. Lee's. Certainly he did not go to visit
Alexandrine. We all know how the habit of visiting certain places grows
upon u