k what I am."

"You are the best that is in me. We are mates."

"A peasant! A beggar!"

"You are the noblest of the noble."

"A convict."

"Our Saviour was crucified so that His people should be redeemed. You
have given the pain of your body so that your people may be free."

"It wouldn't be fair to you," he pleaded.

"If you leave me it will be unfair to us both."

"Oh, my dear one! My dear one!"

He folded her in his arms:

"I'll give the best of my days to guard you and protect you and bring
you happiness."

"I am happy now," and her voice died to a whisper.

CHAPTER XI

KINGSNORTH IN DESPAIR

Three days afterwards Nathaniel Kingsnorth returned late at night from
a political banquet.

It had been a great evening. At last it seemed that life was about to
give him what he most wished for. His dearest ambitions were,
apparently, about to be realised.

He had been called on, as a staunch Conservative, to add his quota to
the already wonderful array of brilliant perorations of seasoned
statesmen and admirable speakers.

Kingsnorth had excelled himself.

Never had he spoken so powerfully.

Being one of the only men at the banquet who had enjoyed even a brief
glimpse of Ireland, he made the solution of the Irish question the main
topic of his speech. Speaking lucidly and earnestly, he placed before
them his panacea for Irish ills.

His hearers were enthralled.

When he sat down the cheering was prolonged. The Chancellor of the
Exchequer, an old friend of his late father, spoke most glowingly to
him and of him in his hearing. The junior Whip hinted at his contesting
a heat at a coming bye-election in the North of Ireland. A man with his
knowledge of Ireland--as he had shown that night--would be invaluable
to his party.

When he left the gathering he was in a condition of ecstasy. Lying
back, amid the cushions, during his long drive home, he closed his eyes
and pictured the future. His imagination ran riot. It took wings and
flew from height to height. He saw himself the leader of a party--"The
Kingsnorth Party!"--controlling his followers with a hand of iron, and
driving them to vote according to his judgment and his decree.

By the time he reached home he had entered the Cabinet and was being
spoken of as the probable Prime Minister. But for the sudden stopping
of the horses he might have attained that proud distinction.

The pleasant warmth of the entrance hall on this chill Novembe