r.

The movement revived her sufficiently for her to know what was
happening.

A long-drawn sigh escaped her lips and she essayed to stand alone.

"No, Jess, no. Lean on me. You must get back home and rest. You have
overdone it," he whispered.

"Fred! You!"

The arms that had hung lifeless wreathed round his neck, the head that
had dropped on his shoulder nestled close and the white face upturned.

"Oh, take me away, Fred, take me away from this horror--anywhere,
anywhere, so that I may be with you."

"Hush, Jess, hush. You must not talk like that," he whispered, the
strength of the grip with which he held her and the soft tremor of his
voice giving her the lie to his words.

"Darling, I must," she answered. "Give me freedom from the misery that
man has brought into my life. Oh, you do not know what it has been and
is still. You heard what the doctor said."

She shuddered as she recalled the words.

"The tactless fool," he muttered, resentment rising against the man who
had not hesitated to add another twelve hours' work to an already
arduous day when the call of suffering reached him.

"No, he only said what others think. I know, Fred. I can feel it. Mr.
Gale was the same. They all are."

"You must not think that--you must not," he said. "And you must not stay
in Waroona. You must go away."

Her arms held tighter.

"I will never go, never, while you remain. Don't despise me, Fred, don't
think ill of me. I know what I am saying. I am on the edge of a
precipice. If I go over, I go down, down, down, an outcast, and
a--a----"

"Don't," he whispered hoarsely. "Don't talk like that."

"Who would care?" she added bitterly, "even if I did?"

It was no longer merely support that his encircling arms gave her as
they strained her to him.

"It would break my heart," he whispered simply. "I am one who would
care."

Unconsciously he bent his head, unconsciously she raised hers, until
their lips met, and in one passionate embrace the intervening years
since they had been heart to heart before passed as a dream, and only
did they know that despite all the barriers which had been raised
between them they were bound by a tie beyond the reach of custom,
circumstance, or force.

With that knowledge uplifting and upholding them, they drew apart.

"You must go and rest now, Jess. You have need of all your strength to
face what lies before you," he said gently.

"I don't mind what it is--now," she answered.

"