e whirlwind, dashing the raindrops right and left from its
gleaming sides, bearing some late revellers through the deserted
streets at a rate of speed forbidden by the traffic of the day. Even
that incident became a distant memory, and now only the occasional howl
of a prowling cat broke the stillness, a strangely ominous and mournful
sound. In the bar of light upon the floor at her feet the shadow of
the tossing branches of a tree moved continually, till she closed her
eyes in dizziness.

Hours passed, hours that seemed a lifetime. The pain extended through
her whole frame, and tears of mute suffering dropped slowly down upon
the flap of the cape that kept her lover warm. From time to time she
shifted her position gently and won a temporary relief, but presently
the sense of strain returned, and yet she would not waken him and let
him go. It was the first time she had ever seen him asleep,--one of
love's tenderest experiences,--and moreover he was sleeping with a
sense of absolute peace and security in her arms. She longed to slip
down beside him, to rest her cheek against his, and to go with him into
that shadowy world of dreams.

Suddenly out of the darkness a soft little form, wet with the rain,
leaped lightly upon her. The discarded kitten had found its mistress
at last. Gentle as the impact was, it sufficed to disturb her balance,
and she sank slowly downward in a faint. Her arm, locked about his
head, saved her from a fall, but the pressure of her body awoke him.
He struggled confusedly, oppressed by a sense of suffocation and by a
vague fear; then, scarcely awake, he caught her in his arms.

"Lena!" he cried, startled by the inexplicable change. "Lena!"

He touched her cheek, he listened in vain to hear her breathe, and then
an icy terror gripped his heart. Scarcely knowing what he did or why,
he raised her carefully in his arms and carried her to the window,
where the fine rain sifted in upon her face. He felt her shiver
slightly, and then her eyes were looking into his.

"Thank God!" he said brokenly. "I thought that you were dead."

She smiled, and moved her face toward him. He took her once more to
their former seat, and continued to hold her in his arms as if she were
a child.

"I feel better now," she murmured. "It was nothing, Tom. You fell
asleep, and I held your head until I toppled over--that was all. Were
you frightened?"

"I thought you were dead," he repeated, deeply awed b