pt to contradict him. Only her strained white face
seemed to implore him to torture her no further. He saw it, and his
heart smote him.

"I hate to hurt you, my chicken," he said. "But, dear, you're making
such a hideous muddle of your life. I hate that even worse."

She flung her arms about his neck; she pressed her lips to his yellow
face. "Darling Nick, never mind about me, never mind!" she whispered. "I
am doing simply what I must do. I can scarcely think or feel yet. Only I
know that I must get free. It isn't that I'm hard. It's just that I have
no choice. Your case was different. You had to do it. But this--" her
words sank, became scarcely audible--"Nick, could anything
extenuate--this?"

"God knows," said Nick. He paused a moment, then added: "I sometimes
think, if the whole truth were known, there would be an extenuating
circumstance for every mortal offence under the sun."

She did not argue the point. She seemed beyond argument. "Very likely,"
she said. "But really I have no choice. You see, we were such
friends--such friends. And then she loved him, while he--he had nothing
but a professional interest for her, till he found her case to be
hopeless, and then he lost even that. That's what made it so
horrible--so impossible. If he had loved her--even a little--I could
have understood. But as it was--Oh, Nick, don't you see?"

Yes, he did see. It was useless to reason with her. She was like a
captive bird beating wild wings for freedom and wholly unable to gauge
its awful desolation when won.

For the second time he had to own himself beaten. For the second time he
withdrew his forces from the field.

"Well, dear, I'm sorry," was all he said, but it conveyed much.

When he quitted her presence a little later he carried with him the ring
that Max had given her and a brief and piteous message to her lover that
he would not try to see her again.

Max received both in grim silence, and within half an hour of so doing
he had gone.

CHAPTER XVIII

ONE MAN'S LOSS

"Oh, damn!" said Noel.

He had made the remark several times before that morning, but he made it
with special emphasis on this occasion in response to the news that his
brother was waiting to see him.

Hot and cross from the parade-ground, he rolled off his horse and turned
towards his quarters. The animal looked after him with a faint whinny of
hurt surprise, and sharply Noel flung round again.

The _saice_ grinned, but was insta