nd them."

He stood back and the others, coming slowly into the light, deposited
their burdens side by side near the fire. The Marquis, who had
understood nothing, took a torch from the hand of a bystander and held
it down toward the face of the man they had brought last.

It was Loo Barebone, and the clean-cut, royal features seemed to wear a
reflective smile.

Miriam had come forward toward the fire, and by chance or by some vague
instinct the bearers had laid their burden at her feet. After all, as
John Turner had said, Loo Barebone had come back to her. She had denied
him twice, and the third time he would take no denial. The taciturn
sailors laid him there and stepped back--as if he was hers and this was
the inevitable end of his short and stormy voyage.

She looked down at him with tired eyes. She had done the right, and
this was the end. There are some who may say that she had done what she
thought was right, and this only seemed to be the end. It may be so.

The Marquis de Gemosac was dumb for once. He looked round him with a
half-defiant question in his eyes. Then he pointed a lean finger down
toward the dead man's face.

"Others may question," he said, "but I know--I KNOW."

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Last Hope, by Henry Seton Merriman

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST HOPE ***

***** This file should be named 8493.txt or 8493.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/8/4/9/8493/

Produced by Les Bowler

Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you
do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research