aring the
imprint of an occupant, showed that the house held an invalid. In one
corner a Christmas-tree, half dressed, explained the litter. It was not
a very large tree; certainly it was not very richly dressed. The things
that hung on it were very simple. Many of them evidently were of
home-manufacture--knots of ribbon, little garments, second-hand books,
even home-made toys.

A small pile of similar articles lay on the floor, where they had been
placed ready for service and had been left by the tree-dressers on their
hasty departure.

Clark's eye followed instinctively that of the visitor.

"My wife has been dressing a tree for the children," he said simply.

He faced Livingstone and offered him a chair. He stiffened as he did so.
He was evidently prepared for the worst.

Livingstone sat down. It was an awkward moment. Livingstone broke the
ice.

"Mr. Clark, I have come to ask you a favor--a great favor--"

Clark's eyes opened wide and his lips even parted slightly in his
astonishment.

"--I want you to lend me your little girl--the little girl I saw in the
office this afternoon."

Clark's expression was so puzzled that Livingstone thought he had not
understood him.

"'The Princess with the Golden Locks,'" he explained.

"Mr. Livingstone!--I--I don't understand." He looked dazed.

Livingstone broke out suddenly: "Clark, I have been a brute, a cursed
brute!"

"Oh! Mr. Liv--!"

With a gesture of sharp dissent Livingstone cut him short.

"It is no use to deny it, Clark,--I have--I have!--I have been a brute
for years and I have just awakened to the fact!" He spoke in bitter,
impatient accusation. "I have been a brute for years and I have just
realized it."

The face of the other had softened.

"Oh, no, Mr. Livingstone, not that. You have always been
just--and--just;" he protested kindly. "You have always--"

--"Been a brute," insisted Livingstone, "a blind, cursed, selfish,
thoughtless--"

"You are not well, Mr. Livingstone," urged Clark, looking greatly
disturbed. "Your servant, James, said you were not well this evening
when I called. I wanted to go in to see you, but he would not permit me.
He said that you had given positive orders that you would not see--"

"I was not well," assented Livingstone. "I was suffering from blindness.
But I am better, Clark, better. I can see now--a little."

He controlled himself and spoke quietly. "I want you to lend me your
little girl for--" He broke off