yellow shaft of light,

"Berkley," he said pleasantly; then, to identify himself, lifted
the lantern to a level with his face.

"Dr. Benton!"

"Surely--surely. I come from Paigecourt. I left Mrs. Craig and
Stephen about five o'clock; I have just left Miss Lynden on duty.
May I sit here beside you, Phil? And, in the first place, how are
you, old fellow?"

"Perfectly well, doctor. . . . I am glad to see you. . . . It is
pleasant to see you. . . . I am well; I really am. You are, too;
I can see that. . . . I want to shake hands with you again--to
wish you happiness," he added in a low voice. "Will you accept my
warmest wishes, Dr. Benton?"

They exchanged a hard, brief grip.

"I know what you mean. Thank you, Phil. . . . I am very happy; I
mean that she shall be. Always."

Berkley said: "There are few people I really care for. She is
among the few."

"I have believed so. . . . She cares, deeply, for you. . . . She
is right." . . . He paused and glanced over his shoulder at the
crimson horizon. "What was that shelling about? The gun-boats were
firing, too."

"I haven't any idea. Something is on fire, evidently. I hope it
is not Paigecourt."

"God forbid!"

The doctor looked hard at the fiery sky, but said nothing more.

"How is Stephen?" asked the younger man earnestly.

"Better."

"Is he going to get well?"

Dr. Benton thought a moment.

"He was struck by a conoidal ball, which entered just above the
interclavicular notch of the sternum and lodged near the superior
angle of the scapula. Assistant Surgeon Jenning, U. S. V., removed
the bullet and applied simple dressings. There was a longitudinal
groove on the bullet which may have been caused by contact with the
bone, but there are no symptoms of injury to the osseous tissue. I
hope he will recover entirely. Miss Lent, his affianced, is
expected to-night. Arrangements have been made to convey him
aboard a Sanitary Commission boat this evening. The sooner he
starts North the better. His mother and Miss Lent go with him as
nurses."

Berkley drew a quiet breath of relief. "I am glad," he said
simply. "There is fever in the air here."

"There is worse, Phil. They're fine people, the Craigs. That
mother of his stood the brutal shock of the news wonderfully--not a
tear, not a tremor. She is a fine woman; she obeyed me, not
implicitly, but intelligently. I don't like that kind of obedience
as a rule; but it happened to b