ed near it, were reflected fitfully in the distant mirror.

"Helen, there is one instrument, above all others, which I have always
longed to play; yet I have never even held one in my hand."

"What instrument is that, darling?"

"The violoncello," said Ronnie, sitting up and turning towards her as he
spoke. "When I think of a 'cello I seem as if I know exactly how it
would feel to hold it between my knees, press my fingers up and down the
yielding strings, and draw the bow across them. Helen--if I had a 'cello
here to-night, you would listen to sounds of such exquisite throbbing
beauty, that you would forget everything in this world, my wife,
excepting that I love you."

His eyes shone in the firelight. An older look of deeper strength and of
fuller manly vigour came into his face. The glow of love transfigured
it.

With an uncontrollable sob, Helen stooped and laid her lips on his.

The clock struck midnight.

"Oh, Ronnie," she said; "oh, Ronnie! It is _to-day_, now! No longer
to-morrow--but to-day!"

He sprang to his feet, took her hand, and drew her to the door.

"Come, Helen," he said.

Part II

CHAPTER V

THE INFANT OF PRAGUE

Two men, in a flat at Leipzig, sat on either side of a tall porcelain
stove.

The small door in the stove stood open, letting a ruddy glow shine from
within, a poor substitute for the open fires blazing merrily in England
on this chill November evening; yet giving visible evidence of the heat
contained within those cool-looking blue and white embossed tiles.

The room itself was a curious mixture of the taste of the Leipzig
landlady, who owned and had furnished it, and of the Englishman studying
music, who was its temporary tenant.

The high-backed sofa, upholstered in red velvet, stood stiffly against
the wall, awaiting the "guest of honour," who never arrived. It served,
however, as a resting-place for a violin, and a pile of music; while, on
the opposite side of the room, partly eclipsing a fancy picture of
Goethe, stood a chamber organ, open, and displaying a long row of varied
stops.

Books and music were piled upon every available flat space, saving the
table; upon which lay the remains of supper.

Of the three easy chairs placed in a semi-circle near the stove, two
were occupied; but against the empty chair in the centre, its dark brown
polished surface reflecting the glow of the fire, leaned a beautiful old
violoncello. The metal point of its foot