ul dumb; and
before any answer occurred to him she had cantered away.

The first time he could secure a few minutes alone with Honor he put
in an urgent plea for Mrs Olliver's services, and had the satisfaction
of going round to her bungalow at tea-time, armed with a special
request from the girl herself.

Evelyn accepted, with a slight lift of her brows, Honor's announcement
that Mrs Olliver would be only too glad to help in nursing Theo. These
odd people, who seemed to enjoy long nights of watching, the uncanny
mutterings of delirium, and the incessant doling out of food and
medicine, puzzled her beyond measure. She had a hazy idea that she
ought to enjoy it in the same way, and a very clear knowledge that she
did no such thing. She regarded it as a sort of penance, imposed by
Honor, not altogether unfairly. She had just conscience enough to
recognise that. And as the hushed monotone of nights and days dragged
by, with little relief from the dead weight of anxiety, it did indeed
seem as if Honor had succeeded in willing a portion of her brave
spirit into her friend. What had passed in secret between God and her
own soul resulted in a breaking down of the bounds of self--an
unconscious spiritual bestowal of the best that was in her, with that
splendid lack of economy in giving which is the hall-mark of a great
nature. And Evelyn took colour from the new atmosphere enveloping her
with the curious readiness of her type.

Desmond himself, in moments of wakefulness, or passing freedom from
delirium, was surprised and profoundly moved to find his wife
constantly in attendance on him. At the time he was too ill to express
his appreciation. But a vision of her dwelt continually in his mind;
and the frequency of her name on his lips brought tears of real
self-reproach to her eyes as she sat alone with him through the dread
small hours, not daring to glance into the darkest corners or to stir
unless necessity compelled her; overpowered by those vague terrors
that evaporate like mist in the cold light of definition.

In this fashion an interminable week slipped past, bringing the
patient to that critical "corner" with which too many of us are
familiar. Neither Paul nor Mackay left the study for twenty-four
hours; while the women sat with folded hands and waited--a more
arduous task than it sounds.

With the coming of morning, and of the first hopeful word from the
sick-room, an audible sigh of relief seemed to pass through