canter--"is not my particular vice. I confess I am not myself
to-night; and I fear I'm not capable of attending any one for the
present; but it is not brandy which is responsible, I assure you of
that."

He stopped, feeling suddenly that the effort of speech was too much for
him. A terrible dizziness was overwhelming him ... he had only one
desire on earth, that Iris Wayne would leave him, that he might sink
down on to the couch again, and let the fathomless sea which was surging
round him drown his soul and senses in its rolling flood....

Yet by a great effort he stood upright, steadying himself by the edge of
the table; and through all his mental and physical misery he saw Iris'
grey eyes fixed upon his face with a great pity in their depths.

"Dr. Anstice"--regardless of Bruce's presence she took up the hypodermic
syringe which lay on the table, gleaming in a strong beam of light which
streamed through the open door--"you have been trying _this_ way
out--again?"

Her voice, which held no condemnation, only an overwhelming compassion,
drove back for a moment those cruel waves which surged around him; and
when he answered her his voice was almost steady.

"Yes, Miss Wayne. I ... I could find no other way, and so--I took this
one."

Iris placed the syringe down gently on the table, and her eyes were full
of tears.

"Dr. Anstice, I'm sorry," she said in a low tone; and the pity in her
voice nearly broke his heart.

"Miss Wayne--I----"

What he would have said she never knew; for Bruce Cheniston broke in
angrily, annoyed by a scene to which he held no key.

"Look here, Iris, we mustn't waste time. Cherry's badly hurt, and since
Dr. Anstice can't come someone else must be found. Come along, we'll be
off and find another doctor--one who can be relied upon."

The mists were closing in on Anstice once more, the hungry sea which
billowed round him threatened to engulf him body and soul. Yet he
thought he heard Iris striving to silence Cheniston's cruel words, he
could have sworn he saw her eyes, big with tears, shining through the
mist which kept him from her; and with a mental effort which turned him
cold he spoke once more to her before she left him.

"Miss Wayne ... please don't condemn me altogether ... I did not give in
at once ... but this seemed--before God, I thought it was the only way
out--to-night...."

And then the miracle happened. Regardless of the man who stood fuming by
her side, Iris laid her