e half so beautiful as this."

A sudden clamour in the courtyard outside drove the colour from her
cheeks, and instinctively she clung to him.

"Dr. Anstice, they're coming, aren't they? Is this--really--the end?"

For a second he listened, the blood running icily in his veins. Then he
turned to her with a smile on his lips.

"Yes. I think they are coming--now. But"--his voice changed--"after all,
there might be a chance--for you!"

Instead of reassuring her his words drove her to a white-lipped terror.

"You're not going to fail me now? Dr. Anstice, for the love of God, do
as you promised--I will be brave, I will indeed--only don't let them
take me--oh, don't!"

"It's all right, dear." He slipped his arm round her and drew her
closely to him. "I won't fail you. I thought for a moment there might be
a chance, but after all this is the better way."

"I knew you could be brave--for me," she said, very softly; and then, as
a native voice outside the hut called an order, he felt her tremble in
his arms. "They are coming--Dr. Anstice, let us say good-bye--or"--she
actually smiled--"shall it be _au revoir_?"

"That, I think," he said steadily, holding the little revolver hidden in
his hand as he spoke. "Dear, I'm going to do it now ... close your eyes,
and then you will know nothing till you open them to see your mother's
face."

A long sigh shook her from head to foot. Then she closed her eyes
obediently.

"Thank you." They were the last words he heard her say as he raised the
revolver; and the next moment the merciful deed was done, and Hilda
Ryder was safe for ever from the vengeance of the fanatics whom she had
all unwittingly enraged.

Then, as the door opened at last, and two grave-faced Indians entered
and motioned to Anstice to accompany them into the courtyard, he went
out unflinchingly into the sunlight to meet his fate.

II

Late that night two British officers sat on the verandah of a bungalow
in the hills, discussing the tragedy which had happened at dawn.

"It's an appalling affair altogether," said the elder man, as he threw
away his half-smoked cigar. "If we had been five minutes earlier we
should have saved the girl, and the man would have been spared a
lifetime's regret."

"Yes." The other officer, who was young and very human, spoke slowly,
and his eyes were thoughtful. "It is a good deal worse for the man than
the woman, after all. Shall you ever forgot his face when he realized