unharmed--but at his feet lay the twitching body of Nikol, the dwarf.

There was a sudden hush, prolonged for several minutes; then Stubbs
dropped to his knee with an inarticulate cry and threw his arms around
the neck of Nikol.

Quickly the others gathered about and Hal shouted:

"A surgeon, quick!"

But Nikol, raising his head to Stubbs' knee, stopped him with a gesture.

"It's no use," he said quietly. "It got me here," and he raised a hand
slowly and touched a spot just above the heart. "A surgeon can do no
good. Besides, I would not have a stranger near me when I die. To me you
are all strangers and yet for days I have not looked upon you as such. I
am glad to have known you all and I know the day will come when I shall
see you all again. Now, if I could see the young lady for just a moment
before--before--"

Hal hastened back to the automobile where Helen Ellison still sat,
wondering at the cause of the trouble, and repeated the dwarf's request.

"Of course I'll go," said the girl, and there was a catch in her voice,
for this was the first time death had come so close to her.

She ran forward and knelt over the little dwarf and took his hand. He
smiled at her.

"I just wanted to tell you good-bye," he said. "I have never seen a young
lady like you before."

For a space of several seconds he looked at her. Then he dropped her
hand and said:

"Now if the rest of you will just shake hands with me once--"

Silently the others grasped Nikol's hand, one after another, and at the
last came Stubbs.

To the latter's hand the dwarf clung tenaciously.

"You, sir, are a brave man," said Nikol. "I am glad I was able to save
you. You may be of some use in the world."

The pressure upon Stubbs' hand tightened and tightened until the little
man winced with the pain of it; but he made no outcry--only smiled as he
exclaimed in a broken voice:

"Nonsense! Nonsense!"

"Well, good-bye, all," said Nikol faintly, after a moment's pause.
"Good--"

The pressure on Stubbs' hand relaxed and the little dwarf of the Albanian
hills fell back, dead.

Stubbs rose and brushed the tears from his eyes. Then, after one look at
the still form on the ground, he turned and walked away. The others said
nothing, for they knew his grief was great.

And now, while the others--all good friends and true--are gathered about
the body of little Nikol, the dwarf, we shall leave them once more,
knowing that, after days and weeks of stren