e sick man's face.

It was from a correspondent in America of whom Mary had never heard. It
told that her uncle Hans had lost their money and his own. His mind was
deranged, and probably had been so for a long time. Mary knew that on
the male side of the Krog family it was not uncommon for the old people
to become weak-minded. But she was horrified that her father should not
have exercised any control over affairs. This, too, was a suspicious
sign.

He must have been on his way to Mrs. Dawes with this letter when the
seizure occurred, for the door had been opened and he lay close to it.

Mary read the letter twice, then turned towards Mrs. Dawes, who sat
crying.

"Well, well, Aunt Eva--it has to be borne."

"Borne? borne? What do you mean? The money loss? Who cares for that? But
your father! That man of men--my best friend!"

She watched his closed eyes, weeping all the time, and heaping the best
of names and the highest of praise on him--in English. The words in the
foreign language seemed to belong to an earlier time; Mary knelt by her
father, taking them all in. They told of the days which the two old
people had spent together. Each a lament, each an expression of
gratitude, they recalled his friendly words, his kind looks, his gifts,
his forbearance. They flowed abundant and warm, uttered with the
fearlessness of a good conscience; for Mrs. Dawes had tried, as far as
it lay in her power, to be to him what he was to her. The more precious
the words poured forth in her father's honour over Mary's head, the
poorer did they make her feel. For she had been so little to him. Oh,
how she repented! oh, how she despaired!

Joergen Thiis appeared outside the door just as she was rising to her
feet. She stooped again, picked up the letter, and was about to give it
to him, when Mrs. Dawes, who had also seen him, asked him to help her to
her room; she must go to bed. "God only knows if I shall ever get up
again! If this is the end with him, it is the end with me too."

Joergen at once raised the heavy body from the chair and staggered slowly
off, supporting it. In Mrs. Dawes's room he rang for a maid; then he
went back to Mary. She was standing motionless, holding the letter,
which she now handed to him.

He read it carefully and turned pale; for a time he was quite overcome;
Mary went a few steps towards him, but this he did not see.

"This has been the cause of the shock," she said.

"Of course," whispered Joergen