trung to the breaking
point--and to find him, _that_ way! Was it not enough to account
for this nervous demoralisation? The wonder is that it has not
permanently injured her.

"But it has not; she is certainly recovering. The dread of seeing
a familiar face is less poignant; her father was here to-day with
Gray and she saw them both.

"Now, dear, as for your coming here, it will not do. I can see
that. She has not yet spoken of you, nor have I ventured to. What
her attitude toward you may be I cannot guess from her speech or
manner.

"Miss Lester told me that at first, in the complete nervous
prostration, she seemed to have a morbid idea that you had been
unkind to her, neglected and deserted her--left her to face some
endless horror all alone. The shock to her mind had been
terrible, Garry; everything was grotesquely twisted--she had some
fever, you know--and Miss Lester told me that it was too pitiful
to hear her talk of you and mix up everything with military
jargon about outpost duty and the firing line, and some comrade
who had deserted her under fire.

"All of which I mention, dear, so that you may, in a measure,
comprehend how very ill she has been; and that she is not yet
well by any means, and perhaps will not be for a long time to
come.

"To-night I had a very straight talk with Mr. Cardross. One has
to talk straight when one talks to him. There is not in my mind
the slightest doubt that he knows exactly now what misguided
impulse drove Shiela to that distressing sacrifice of herself and
you. And at first I was afraid that what she had done from a
mistaken sense of duty might have hastened poor Louis' end; but
Mr. Cardross told me that from the day of his father's death he
had determined to follow in the same fashion; and had told Mr.
Cardross of his intention more than once.

"So you see it was in him--in the blood. See what his own sister
did to herself within a month of Louis' death!

"A strange family; an utterly incomprehensible race. And Mr.
Cardross says that it happened to his father's father; and _his_
father before him died by his own hand!

* * * * *

"Now there is little more news to write you--little more that
could interest you because you care only to hear about Shiela,
and that is perfectly reasonable."

"However, what there is