y father till at least twenty-four hours have elapsed. All my future
happiness may depend on your granting this request. It's the last
favor I shall ever ask you.

And now, my very dear Tabs, almost my brother, if this hurts you,
please take revenge by bundling me out of your mind. I was never your
equal, never worthy of you, though you placed me on a pedestal that
was far above you. Comfort yourself by believing that if you'd
married me, you would have found this out. What a wretched quitter I
appear in my own eyes after all you suffered in the trenches, to have
reserved this worse suffering for you, when your life has been spared
and you had counted on me for happiness. My entire body's not worth
your little finger. And yet how good you've always been to me--

You'll get a better woman than I am. I think I already know who
she'll be; if I'm right, I shall be so very glad.

I feel so humble--so apologetic. It's such a different ending from
the one we dreamt when I saw you off on the troop-train with my hair
all blowy down my back. There's nothing gained by recalling that. I
meant so well by you; you've always been so much to me, my dearest,
loyal Tabs.

Even though you despise me, I still insist on signing myself,

Your ever affectionate

TERRY.

"I'm sorry." It was Lady Dawn.

He shook himself. He was so raw that even her sympathy almost wounded.
"Don't pity me. It's she we've got to help. What's to be done?"

"Done! I haven't thought. What can we----"

"We can follow her and bring her back. We've got to--and we haven't much
time. You must have read between the lines what her letter meant. After
having turned Braithwaite down, she's gone off to beg him to elope with
her. When a girl puts herself at a man's mercy like that, there's no
knowing how he'll act. The chances are that, whatever he does, it won't
be honorable. We're got to prevent her, not only for her own sake, but
for his sake as well. He's just started on a great career; if this story
leaks out, he'll be smashed. They'll both be smashed, for that matter.
If she'd give him time to marry her honestly, it wouldn't matter whether
her family had consented. But she doesn't intend to--that's why she's
asked us to keep quiet for twenty-four hours. What we've got to do is
not to stop her from marrying him--no one cares about that; but to catch
her before she runs off with him."

"But we don'