etect nothing plainly, but I am sure I heard one of them say,
"It's all over." Oh, it is positively awful! I never had such a thing
happen in my house before. Please don't think I blame you, Luscombe; you
didn't know that such a thing would happen when you brought him here.
But the thought of a guest dying in my house is--is--don't you see----?'

'I am going to know the worst, anyhow,' I said, for, although I quite
understood his feelings and was naturally upset at the thought of my
being the occasion of his trouble, it was as nothing compared with my
anxiety about my friend.

I therefore abruptly left him, and rushed upstairs to Edgecumbe's room.
I knocked, but receiving no answer I went in.

'How is he?' I asked.

Neither of them spoke, and from the look on their faces I judged that my
worst fears were realized.

CHAPTER XXI

COLONEL McCLURE'S VERDICT

I moved quickly towards the bed, and in the dim light of the lamp which
stood near saw that a change had come over my friend's face. A look of
perfect peace and tranquility had taken the place of anguish.

'Tell me,' I cried, 'he isn't dead, is he?'

'He is out of pain, at all events,' and Colonel McClure spoke abruptly.

Unmindful of what they might say, I went close to Edgecumbe, and gazed at
him steadily. As far as I could judge, there was no sign of life.

'Have--have you done anything for him?' I said, turning to the doctors.
But neither of them spoke. They might have been waiting for something.

I noticed that Edgecumbe's hands were lying on the coverlet almost easily
and naturally. Why I should have done it, I cannot tell, but I seized
the lamp and held it close to them. They did not look like the hands of
a dead man. In spite of everything, there was a suggestion of nervous
energy in the long, capable-looking fingers. Then I put down the lamp,
and took one of the hands in mine.

'He is alive,' I said; 'the right hand is warm, and it is not rigid.'

Still the doctors did not speak, but each looked at the other as if
questioningly. They did not appear to resent my action; perhaps they
made allowances for my anxiety; both of them knew how dear he was to me.

Then something struck me. I saw that one of his hands, although both
were browned by exposure and hardened by labour, was different in colour
from the other.

'Have you noticed that?' I said.

'Noticed what?'

'That his left hand is slightly blue. You can see it beneath t