ay the blessed angel
says to ye: 'Thin do yer dooty an' save 'im!', as she put out her ar-rm
for the sacrifice thot kept me here on earth!"

"Please stop--both of you!" she implored.

"Shure, lass, an' 'tis no harm speakin' av a noble deed. An' now," he
added, folding his hands upon his breast, and closing his eyes in mock
contentment, "'tis me last wish an' tistament to make the good Doctor
Bonsecours me brother-in-law!"

"One must be in his right mind to make a last 'wish and tistament,'"
Marian tried to look at him severely; but, the next instant, she leaned
impulsively over and kissed his cheeks--then ran out the doorway.

Jeb had barely time to draw back when she dashed past him and turned
toward the road leading above the dug-outs. She might readily have seen
him had her haste and confusion been less, because the dawn was coming,
and objects in the quadrangle were vaguely beginning to take shape. A
new day was creeping up over the hill. The cold, unsympathetic light,
matching the compass of his thoughts, made the world look gray and
sordid.

He had heard, and now realized with a new depression that henceforth he
could be no more a part of her life than any one of the millions who
were fighting the battle of Humanity in this stricken land. Not that he
pretended to love her inordinately, by any means, but a man need only
love a girl with a very small portion of his heart to feel a throb of
pain when she surrenders to some one else. It was this sense of being
left behind that hurt; of being deserted by his old playmate--and of
deserving it! He turned slowly and followed after her.

She did not hear him as he came up, and when he approached to within a
few feet of her he saw the reason. The dawn was streaking the sky with
pink and salmon tints, and, although her eyes were gazing into it, her
thoughts reached far beyond. Standing upon the hilltop, her hands
crossed over the red emblem on her breast, the half-light of soft color
touching her immobile face, she typified the Spirit of Mercy poised
above the unawakened battlefield, ready at the first gun's crash to fly
downward with her warmth, her strength, her sympathy.

For the moment forgetting his own mission in the presence of the
transfigured Marian, Jeb stood abashed. Yet the minutes were passing,
and the ambulance would not wait.

"I--I came up to say good-bye," he stammered, awkwardly. "I'm going."

She turned, seeming reluctant to be torn from her medi