ch silent covered
face in the bow.

"Thank God," she murmured, "he's not there!"

She must begin now the patient search among the eighty thousand sick and
wounded men in the city of sorrows on the hills.

She secured a hack and tried to reach the head of the procession and
find the destination of the first wagons that had left before her
arrival.

It was after midnight. A thunder storm suddenly rolled its dense clouds
over the city and smothered the street lamps in a pall of darkness. The
rain burst with a flash of lightning and poured in torrents. The
electric display was awe-inspiring. The horses in one of the ambulances
in the long line stampeded and smashed the vehicle in front. The
procession was stopped in the height of the storm. The vivid flame was
now continuous and Betty could see the wagons standing in a mud-splashed
row for a mile, the lightning play bringing out in startling outline
each horse and vehicle.

From every ambulance was hanging a fringe of curious objects shining
white against the shadows when suddenly illumined. Betty looked in pity
and awe. They were the burning fevered arms and legs and heads of the
suffering wounded men eager to feel the splash of the cooling rain.

A full week passed before her search ended and she located him in one of
the big new buildings hastily constructed of boards.

With trembling step she started to go straight to his cot. The memory of
his brutal stare that day stopped her and she scribbled a line and sent
it to him:

"John, dear, may I see you a moment?

"BETTY."

The doctor assured her that he was rapidly recovering, though restless
and depressed. She caught her breath in a little gasp of surprise at the
sight of his white face, pale and spiritual looking now from the loss of
blood.

Her eyes were shining with intense excitement as she swiftly crossed the
room, dropped on her knees beside his cot and seized his hands:

"O John, John, can you ever forgive me!"

He slipped his arm around her neck and held her a long time in silence.

The men in the room paid no attention to the little drama. It was
happening every day around them.

"Oh, dearest," she went on eagerly, "I tried to put you out of my heart,
but I couldn't. I am yours, all yours, body and soul. Love asks but one
question--do you love me?"

"Forever!" he whispered.

"In my loneliness and despair I tried to give myself to Ned, but I
couldn't, dear. I w