his head, to
speak in words no longer dictated by the vagaries of delirium? She
would give anything to be able to ask his pardon humbly after his mind
cleared again. Oh, it was unthinkable that he should die, that the end
might be coming soon, and that she must go forth with that unspeakable
load of misery in her heart.

Maigan restlessly kept on coming to her and placing his head in her
lap, as if seeking comfort. Once she bent over and put her cheek
against his jaw and furry ear. He was a companion in misery.

When she lifted up her head again to stare once more at the sufferer,
with eyes heavily ringed with black, he slowly opened his own and
looked at her vaguely, for at first there was not the slightest sign
of recognition in them. Presently, however, the girl saw something
that looked like a faint smile.

"How--how long have I been asleep?" he asked, weakly. "And have--have
you been here all the time?"

She nodded, conscious that her heart was now beating with excitement,
and his eyes closed again. But his hand had sought the one she had
laid on the blanket and rested on it, for a few moments. It was the
ever-recurring call of the man for the comfort of a woman's touch, for
the protection his strength gathers from her weakness.

"You--you're ever so good and kind," he said again, in a low hoarse
voice, after which he kept still again, for the longest time.

In spite of the gray pall of clouds over the sky and the complaining
of the gale-swept tops of the great trees, in spite of the vast dull
roar of the great falls, that had seemed a dirge, a ray of cheer had
entered the little shack. It had seemed to her like such a paltry and
mean excuse for a dwelling, when she had first seen it, and had been
so thoroughly in keeping with the sordid nature she had at once
attributed to this man whom she believed to have brought her there
with amazing lies. But now, in some way, it had become a link, and the
only one, that still attached her a little to the world. It appeared
to her like the one place where she had been able to obtain a little
rest from her miserable thoughts. Indeed, it had now become infinitely
desirable. If the man could have stood up again and greeted her it
would have become a haven of unspeakable comfort, since she would
realize that for once her efforts had not been in vain, and that she
had helped bring him back to life. But of course she knew that she
must leave it soon, that whether he died or