en, very softly, Guy spoke. "To please--you?" he said.

She answered him, but it was scarcely of her own volition. She was
as one driven--"Yes--yes!"

He looked at her closely as if to make sure of her meaning. Then,
with a quick, reckless movement, he turned and set down the bottle
on the table.

"That settles that," he said boyishly. "Go ahead, Kelly! Drink!
Don't mind me! I am--brandy-proof."

And Sylvia, throbbing from head to foot, knew she had conquered,
knew she had saved him for a time at least from the threatening
evil. But there was that within her which shrank from the thought
of the victory. She had acted almost under compulsion, yet she
felt that she had used a weapon which would ultimately pierce them
both.

She scarcely knew what passed during the interval that followed
before Burke's return. As in a dream she heard Kelly still talking
about the Brennerstadt diamond, and Guy was asking him questions
with a keenness of interest that seemed strange to her. She
herself was waiting and watching for Burke, dreading his coming,
yet in a fashion eager for it. For very curiously she had a
feeling that she needed him. For the first time she wanted to lean
upon his strength.

But when at length he came, her dread of him was uppermost and she
felt she could not meet his look. It was with relief that she saw
Guy was still his first thought. He had fetched Joe from the
Kaffir huts, and the lamps were filled and lighted. He was
carrying one as he entered, and the light flung upwards on his face
showed it to her as the face of a strong man.

He set the lamp on the table and went straight to Guy. "Look
here!" he said. "I'm going to put you to bed."

Guy, with his arms on the table, looked up at him and laughed.
"Oh, rats! I'm all right. Can't you see I'm all right? Well, I
must have some tea first anyway. I've been promised tea."

"I'll bring you your tea in bed," Burke said.

But Guy protested. "No, really, old chap. I must sit up a bit
longer. I'll be very good. I want to hear all Kelly's news. I
believe I shall have to go back to Brennerstadt with him to paint
the town red. I'd like to have a shot at that diamond. You never
know your luck when the devil's on your side."

"I know yours," said Burke drily. "And it's about as rotten as it
can be. You've put too great a strain on it all your life."

Guy laughed again. He was in the wildest spirits. But suddenly in
the midst