to obey her.

"No," she whispered--"here. I want you near me."

Slowly he reclined and laid his head on the coat. Her warm breath was on
his face. He felt for her hand, and found it, and it held tightly to his.

His own mind was still torn with doubts as to the best course. Should he
put himself out of the way that she might live? The sacrifice might prove
unnecessary. Rescue might come when it was too late for him, yet not too
late, if he did not hurry his own end. And if she truly loved him and
knew that she loved him, such an act on his part would leave her a
terrible grief which time would hardly cure.

He tried to analyze their situation more clearly, to throw new light on
his duty. The clerks must all have gone by now. There would be a visit or
two from a night watchman, perhaps, but there was scarcely one chance in
a hundred that he would unbolt the door.

The air was vitiating rapidly; they could not both live through the
night. But--if she loved him as he loved her, she would be happier to die
with him than to live at the cost of his life.

He pictured for himself again that last look of her face: its beauty, its
strength, its sweet sympathy. He seemed to see the stray wisp of hair
that had found its way down upon her cheek. Her perfect lips--how well he
remembered!--were the unopened buds of pure womanly passion.

After all, whether she loved him or not, there would still be much in
life for her.

Time would cure her sorrow. There would be many claims upon her, and she
would sooner or later resume her normal activities.

Slowly he disengaged his hand from her clinging fingers. In his other
hand he still held his pocket-knife. To open a vein in his wrist would
take but a moment. His life would well away, there on the tiles.

She would think he was asleep; and then she herself would drift away into
unconsciousness which would be broken only after the door was opened in
the morning.

Bah! His mind cleared in a flash. What a fool he was! Need he doubt her
for an instant? Need he question what she would do when she found that he
was dead? And she would know it quickly. This living pulsing girl beside
him loved him! She had told him in every way except in words. In life and
in death they belonged to each other.

They were one forever. They still lived, and while they lived they must
hope. And if hope failed, there still would be love.

His pent-up emotions broke restraint. With unthinking swiftness, he