ver walk again!"

Throwing herself across the couch, she buried her face in the cushions,
crying chokingly, "Oh, I can't _bear_ to think of it! Oh, Jack! how
could such an awful thing happen to _you_!"

Sick and trembling, Mary sat as if dazed by a blow on the head, her
stunned senses trying to grasp the fact that some awful calamity had
befallen them; that out of a clear sky had dropped a deadly bolt to
shatter all the happiness of their little world. For an instant the
thought came to her that maybe she was only having a dreadful dream,
and in a few moments would come the blessed relief of awakening. But
instead came only the sickening realization of the truth, for Joyce,
with an imploring gesture, held the letter out to Phil for him to read
aloud.

Mrs. Ware had written as bravely as she could, trying not to alarm or
distress them unduly, but there could be no disguising or softening one
terrible fact. Jack, strong, sinewy, broad-shouldered Jack, whose
strength had been his pride, lay as helpless as a baby, and all the hope
the physicians could give was that in a few months he might be able to
go about in a wheeled chair. They had had three surgeons up from
Phoenix for a consultation. A trained nurse was with him at present
and they must not worry. Of course they mustn't think of coming home.
Joyce could do most good where she was, if later on they should have to
depend on her partly, as one of the bread-winners. And Mary must make
the most of the rest of the year at school. Jack had sent the check for
the balance of her expenses only the morning before the accident
occurred.

Mary waited to hear no more. With the tears streaming down her face, and
her lips working pitifully, she scrambled up from the floor, and ran
into the next room, shutting the door behind her. The hurt was too deep
for her to bear another moment, in any one's presence. She must go off
with it into the dark alone.

There was a page or two more, giving some details of the accident. Some
heavy timbers had fallen while they were making some extensions, and
Jack had been crushed under them. The blow on the spine had caused
paralysis of both limbs. When Phil finished the last sentence, he sat
staring helplessly at the floor, wishing he could think of something to
say; something comforting and hopeful, for Joyce's shoulders still
heaved convulsively, and Betty was crying quietly over by the window.
But he could find no grain of comfort in the who