devotedly attached to his father, and to lose him, and at such a time,
was a bitter blow to him. With me he was warm as ever, and to Van
Helsing he was sweetly courteous. But I could not help seeing that
there was some constraint with him. The professor noticed it too, and
motioned me to bring him upstairs. I did so, and left him at the door
of the room, as I felt he would like to be quite alone with her, but
he took my arm and led me in, saying huskily,

"You loved her too, old fellow. She told me all about it, and there
was no friend had a closer place in her heart than you. I don't know
how to thank you for all you have done for her. I can't think
yet . . ."

Here he suddenly broke down, and threw his arms round my shoulders and
laid his head on my breast, crying, "Oh, Jack! Jack! What shall I
do? The whole of life seems gone from me all at once, and there is
nothing in the wide world for me to live for."

I comforted him as well as I could. In such cases men do not need
much expression. A grip of the hand, the tightening of an arm over
the shoulder, a sob in unison, are expressions of sympathy dear to a
man's heart. I stood still and silent till his sobs died away, and
then I said softly to him, "Come and look at her."

Together we moved over to the bed, and I lifted the lawn from her
face. God! How beautiful she was. Every hour seemed to be enhancing
her loveliness. It frightened and amazed me somewhat. And as for
Arthur, he fell to trembling, and finally was shaken with doubt as
with an ague. At last, after a long pause, he said to me in a faint
whisper, "Jack, is she really dead?"

I assured him sadly that it was so, and went on to suggest, for I felt
that such a horrible doubt should not have life for a moment longer
than I could help, that it often happened that after death faces
become softened and even resolved into their youthful beauty, that
this was especially so when death had been preceded by any acute or
prolonged suffering. I seemed to quite do away with any doubt, and
after kneeling beside the couch for a while and looking at her
lovingly and long, he turned aside. I told him that that must be
goodbye, as the coffin had to be prepared, so he went back and took
her dead hand in his and kissed it, and bent over and kissed her
forehead. He came away, fondly looking back over his shoulder at her
as he came.

I left him in the drawing room, and told Van Helsing that he had sai