,
or anything that it could buy, if he could help it. The thought was like
tearing the heart out of his breast, and another thought sprang up again
in defence of all that he held dear. He began to breathe quickly and
heavily, like a man who has been running. He feared that she must feel
the plunging of his heart, for she was leaning against him, looking out
at the wild, windy night. But she heard only the mournful wail of the
wind through the great trees, and the roar of the river rushing under
the misty darkness. There was no moon, but the stars were shining in the
dark dome of the universe.

"I wonder why the stars look so old, while the world looks so new," she
murmured, with her head on his shoulder and her face upturned. "I wonder
why there is such a look of changelessness about the heavens, while the
earth seems changing so fast!"

Her eyes were wandering over the infinite starry spaces with wondering
awe, but he was looking down at her and he started when she cried out in
amazement, touched with alarm. She lifted her hand and pointed, and
following its direction, he saw that the comet had disappeared.

The celestial visitor was gone almost as suddenly and mysteriously as it
had come.

XXV

THE PASSING OF PHILIP ALSTON

The cold wind died down with the coming of dawn. Going to the window to
call the birds, she found the air grown unseasonably warm and saw that
it was filled with a dull mist. Leaning from the window, she looked up
the forest path, wondering if Paul had ridden along it during the night
on his way to the boat. The low, broad craft was still lying in the same
place beside the island, with no movement about it. She thought of the
sick man with pity, wishing that she could do something for him; but if
Paul had been called in time, all must be well--she had not a doubt of
that; and an unconscious smile of pride touched her anxious face. She
hardly knew why she felt vaguely anxious and uneasy, but thought that it
might be on account of the gloom of the dreary morning, and the strange
look of the swollen river. How gray and dark it was, and how heavily it
ran, almost like molten lead.

As her wandering gaze followed the stream, she saw something which was
still grayer and darker than the troubled waters. She could not tell at
first what it was, for it was a long way off, and far up the river.
With her hands over her eyes, she strained her sight, but the distance
was too great, and the yell