uld go up to him."

Drake nodded, and he followed Nell up the stairs.

Falconer was sitting up, leaning back against a pile of pillows; and he
greeted them with a smile--the half-sad, half-patiently cynical smile of
the old days in Beaumont Buildings--the smile which served as a mask to
hide the tenderness of a noble nature.

Nell came into the room shyly, with the sadness of the self-reproach
which was born of the knowledge that her happiness had been gained at
the cost of this man who loved her with a love as great as Drake's; but
Drake came up to the bed boldly, and held out his hand.

"We have come--to thank you, Falconer," he said, in the tone with which
one man acknowledges his debt to another. "No, not to thank you, for
that's impossible. Some things are beyond thanks, and this that you have
done is one of them. You have brought happiness where there was nothing
but misery and despair. Some day I will tell you the story of our
separation; but that must wait. Now I can only try and express my
gratitude----"

He stammered and broke down; for with Falconer's eloquent eyes upon him,
he realized the extent of the man's self-sacrifice, and it seemed to him
that any attempt to express his own gratitude was worse than absolute
silence. Can you thank a man for the gift of your life?

Falconer looked from one to the other, the half-sad smile lighting up
his wan face.

"I know," he said simply. And indeed he knew how he should feel if he
were in the place of this lucky man, this favored of the gods. "I know.
There is no need to say anything. You are happy?"

His eyes rested on Nell. She slipped to her knees beside the bed and
took his hand; but she could not speak; the tears filled her eyes, and
she gazed up at him through a mist.

"Ah! what can I say?" she murmured.

He smiled down at her with infinite tenderness.

"You have said enough," he said simply, "and I am answered. Do you think
it is nothing to me, your happiness? It is everything--life itself!"
His dark eyes glowed. "There is no moment since I knew you that I would
not have laid down this wretched life of mine, if by so doing I could
have made you happy at a much less cost."

He turned his eyes to Drake with sudden energy.

"Don't pity me, Lord Angleford. There is no need."

Drake took his other hand and pressed it.

"You must get well soon, or her--our--happiness will be marred,
Falconer," he said warmly.

Falconer nodded.

"I shall get wel