m, with the snow
blowing past them. "It's not your fault, Thea, but I've had you too much
in my mind. I've not given myself a fair chance in other directions. I
was in Rome when you and Nordquist were there. If that had kept up, it
might have cured me."

"It might have cured a good many things," remarked Thea grimly.

Fred nodded sympathetically and went on. "In my library in St. Louis,
over the fireplace, I have a property spear I had copied from one in
Venice,--oh, years ago, after you first went abroad, while you were
studying. You'll probably be singing BRUNNHILDE pretty soon now, and
I'll send it on to you, if I may. You can take it and its history for
what they're worth. But I'm nearly forty years old, and I've served my
turn. You've done what I hoped for you, what I was honestly willing to
lose you for--then. I'm older now, and I think I was an ass. I wouldn't
do it again if I had the chance, not much! But I'm not sorry. It takes a
great many people to make one--BRUNNHILDE."

Thea stopped by the fence and looked over into the black choppiness on
which the snowflakes fell and disappeared with magical rapidity. Her
face was both angry and troubled. "So you really feel I've been
ungrateful. I thought you sent me out to get something. I didn't know
you wanted me to bring in something easy. I thought you wanted
something--" She took a deep breath and shrugged her shoulders. "But
there! nobody on God's earth wants it, REALLY! If one other person
wanted it,"--she thrust her hand out before him and clenched it,--"my
God, what I could do!"

Fred laughed dismally. "Even in my ashes I feel myself pushing you! How
can anybody help it? My dear girl, can't you see that anybody else who
wanted it as you do would be your rival, your deadliest danger? Can't
you see that it's your great good fortune that other people can't care
about it so much?"

But Thea seemed not to take in his protest at all. She went on
vindicating herself. "It's taken me a long while to do anything, of
course, and I've only begun to see daylight. But anything good
is--expensive. It hasn't seemed long. I've always felt responsible to
you."

Fred looked at her face intently, through the veil of snowflakes, and
shook his head. "To me? You are a truthful woman, and you don't mean to
lie to me. But after the one responsibility you do feel, I doubt if
you've enough left to feel responsible to God! Still, if you've ever in
an idle hour fooled yourself with