even to dream of such
richness. I'd made up my mind to go alone, and when I told her, she
was in despair till this superb idea came into her head. After that, of
course, it was easy enough for me to stick to the resolution I'd made."

"Why did you decide to go, Charlie?" And Rose looked up into the eyes
that were fixed beseechingly on hers.

They wavered and glanced aside, then met hers honestly yet full of
humility, which made her own fall as he answered very low: "Because I
don't dare to stay."

"Is it so hard?" she said pitifully.

"Very hard. I haven't the moral courage to own up and face ridicule, and
it seems so mean to hide for fear of breaking my word. I will keep it
this time, Rose, if I go to the ends of the earth to do it."

"It is not cowardly to flee temptation, and nobody whose opinion is
worth having will ridicule any brave attempt to conquer one's self.
Don't mind it, Charlie, but stand fast, and I am sure you will succeed."

"You don't know what it is, and I can't tell you, for till I tried to
give it up I never guessed what a grip it had on me. I thought it was
only a habit, easy to drop when I liked, but it is stronger than I, and
sometimes I feel as if possessed of a devil that will get the better of
me, try as I may."

He dropped her hands abruptly as he said that, with the energy of
despair; and, as if afraid of saying too much, he left her for a minute,
striking away at full speed, as if in truth he would "go to the ends of
the earth" to escape the enemy within himself.

Rose stood still, appalled by this sudden knowledge of how much greater
the evil was than she had dreamed. What ought she to do? Go with her
cousin, and by so doing tacitly pledge herself as his companion on that
longer journey for which he was as yet so poorly equipped? Both heart
and conscience protested against this so strongly that she put the
thought away. But compassion pleaded for him tenderly, and the spirit of
self-sacrifice, which makes women love to give more than they receive,
caused her to feel as if in a measure this man's fate lay in her hands,
to be decided for good or ill through her. How should she be true both
to him and to herself?

Before this question could be answered, he was back again, looking as if
he had left his care behind him, for his moods varied like the wind. Her
attitude, as she stood motionless and alone with downcast face, was so
unlike the cheerful creature who came to meet him an hou