rew was too sincere a man to give, even to friendship, a
blind comfort and assurance. He merely smiled at the troubled glance,
and said quietly:

"I am sure where you loved, there was much to love."

"Yes; yes; that is true; and I begin to think the nobility of it all lay
in his unconsciousness of the splendid character he builded so patiently
and laboriously out of all the wreck.

"Philip had a brother, Ralph! His name was never spoken. He was two
years older than Philip, and as different as it was possible for a
brother to be.

"John was all strength and concentration; Philip all brightness and
charm--in the beginning! Their mother adored Philip; she never
understood John, and yet he was a good son, brave and faithful. But he
could not show his nature--it lay so far below the surface. It was
always easy for Philip. His charm attracted nearly everyone. My father
always liked John better. He said there was splendid power in him,
and--I must keep nothing from you, Ralph--I loved John--loved him, oh!
how I loved him. I pitied him because he could not win what should have
been his--I loved him for myself, and for all the others who were too
dull to realize his worth. It was like mother love and all the rest, in
one."

"Yes; the most God-like love of all. Only women know it, I fancy," Drew
murmured.

"And then"; the agonized eyes seemed to plead even while they confessed,
"then the awful thing happened. John took--he stole many thousands of
dollars from men who trusted and honoured him."

"Ruth!"

"I could never have believed it, but he told me so himself. To the day
of his death my father believed the half had never been told, but how
could I think that, when John told me himself that he was guilty? Father
was a judge--he was to have been the judge before whom John Dale was
tried, but they relieved him of that horrible duty. John Dale was
sentenced to five years--in prison! They said it was a light sentence."

"My God! Poor Phil! How terrible for you all!"

"Don't! don't!" Ruth Dale put out her hands as if warding off a blow.
"Haven't you guessed? Can you not think?"

Drew shook his head slowly. He did not seem to be able to think at all.

"Mrs. Dale died soon after. She had a weak heart--it killed her. Philip
was everything to her--he was heavenly good in his attention and
devotion. Somehow, I wonder what you will think of me, but suddenly I
became possessed with a passion for making happier them whom John