he
effort to meet the demands upon her small stock of strength, came the
inevitable drop to the comfortable commonplaces of everyday life.

Nor was she alone in her sensations. In varying degrees they affected
every inmate of the blue bungalow during that last week of Desmond's
imprisonment; and it is probable that Honor unconsciously relaxed her
mental concentration upon Evelyn which had been responsible for more
than either knew. Her midnight talk with Desmond, and the knowledge
that a second contest lay before her, gave her food for much troubled
reflection; while the comparative lightness of sick-room duties left
her free to grapple with arrears of letters, work, and household
accounts. Thus, being only human, and very much absorbed in matters
practical, she made the fatal mistake of relaxing her vigilance at the
very moment when Evelyn needed it most. But it is written that "no man
may redeem his brother"; and, soon or late the relapse must have come.
Honor could not hope to lay permanent hold upon the volatile spirit of
her friend.

Desmond himself, whose patience under the burden of illness and of a
nerve-shattering fear had amazed even those who knew him best, was
approaching the irritable stage of convalescence,--the strong man's
rebellion against Nature's unhurried methods; against enforced
restriction and imprisonment, when renewed life is pulsing through
every artery, renewed vigour stirring the reawakened brain.

Nor were matters enlivened by Mackay's decree that, if risk were to be
avoided, the detested shade must be worn for three full weeks or a
month. Thus to imprisonment was added the gall and wormwood of total
dependence upon others; the unthinkable prospect of parting with Paul,
with the Border itself--with everything that had hitherto made life
worth living; and, worse than all, the undercurrent of striving to
ignore that veiled danger, which he refused to name, even in his
thoughts, and which lay like a millstone upon his heart.

Thus there were inevitable moments when his spirit kicked against the
pricks; when his return to life and health seemed a parody of a
blessing, a husk emptied of the life-giving grain. In these moods
Evelyn found herself powerless to cope with him; and was not a little
aggrieved when she discovered that his unvarying need, on black days,
was the companionship of Paul Wyndham, whose insight detected some
hidden trouble, and who, as a matter of course, devoted every spar