and he let her take her own time. When she spoke there was
a thrill in her voice that he had never heard before.

"I don't deserve it--so much consideration, I mean," she said; and he made
haste to spare her.

"Yes, you do; you deserve anything the best man in the world could do for
you, and I'm a good bit short of that."

"But if I don't want you to go back?"

He had gained something--much more than he knew; and for a tremulous
instant he was near to losing it again by a passionate retraction of all
he had been saying. But the cool purpose came to his rescue in time.

"I should still insist on doing it. You gave me what you could, but I want
more, and I am willing to do what is necessary to win it."

Again she said: "You are too good to me," and again he contradicted her.

"No; it is hardly a question of goodness; indeed, I am not sure that it
escapes being selfish. But I am very much in earnest, and I am going to
prove it. Three years ago you met a man whom you thought you could
love--don't interrupt me, please. He was like some other men we know: he
didn't have the courage of his convictions, lacking the few dollars which
might have made things more nearly equal. May I go on?"

"I suppose you have earned the right to say what you please," was the
impassive reply.

It was the old struggle in which they were so evenly matched--of the woman
to preserve her poise; of the man to break it down. Another lover might
have given up in despair, but Ormsby's strength lay in holding on in the
face of all discouragements.

"I believe, as much as I believe anything in this world, that you were
mistaken in regard to your feeling for the other man," he went on calmly.
"But I want you to be sure of that for yourself, and you can't be sure
unless you are free to choose between us."

"Oh, don't!--you shouldn't say such things to me," she broke out; and then
he knew he was gaining ground.

"Yes, I must. We have been stumbling around in the dark all these months,
and I mean to be the lantern-bearer for once in a way. You know, and I
know, and Kent is coming to know. That man is going to be a success,
Elinor: he has it in him, and he sha'n't lack the money-backing he may
need. When he arrives----"

She turned on him quickly, and the blue-gray eyes were suspiciously
bright.

"Please don't bury me alive," she begged.

He saw what he had done; that the nicely calculated purpose had carried
straight and true to its mark; and