a few, weak days he decided to remain and finish it all and forever.

Then his manly faith bade him sternly to gather the poor remnant of his
strength together; grasp the broken blade that was his only weapon, and
finish the fight how and where he could.

"We'll go with you, laddie," Aunt Sally whispered, hanging over this boy
whom she loved as her own.

"And, dear," Constance sobbed on his pillow, "she wasn't worth your
love. I just knew it from the start. She's a selfish--egotistical--" a
thin, feverish hand stayed the girlish outburst.

"Never mind, Connie, we'll fly to the woods, and try to forget all about
it." And taking advantage of the golden October calm, they came to St.
Ange.

Lying upon his bed in the bungalow chamber, looking out over the hills
and meadows, gorgeous in autumn tints, Drew began slowly, interruptedly
to be sure, but perceptibly, to gain strength.

Having relinquished finally the old ideal of life, it was wonderful,
even to Drew himself, to find how much seemed unimportant and trivial.
It was rather shocking, in a mild way, for him to realize that a certain
girl's face was growing less and less vivid. At first he attributed this
to bodily weakness; then to weakness of character; finally, thank God!
to common sense. With that conclusion reached, the present began feebly
to be vital and full of meaning.

Had perfect health been his, a call to serve the cause to which he had
dedicated himself might have taken him farther than St. Ange from his
old life. It was the finality of the decree that had put him in that
panic. Well, he would not permit finality to hold part in his plans. He
would live as if all things _might_ come to him, as to other men. It
should be, day by day, and he would accept these people--if they would
accept him--not as minister and parishioners, but in the larger, deeper
sense--as brothers. With this outlook determined upon, a change for the
better began. Before it, while the old weakness possessed him, Jock
Filmer, sitting daily by his bed, was merely some one who was helping
nurse the fever-racked body; afterward, Jock materialized into the most
important and satisfying personality to be imagined. He was untiring in
his devotion and gentleness. Caught on the rebound from the shock Gaston
had caused him, Filmer went over to the new call to his friendship with
an abandon that proved his own sore need of sympathy.

The family, grateful for the signs of returning health