thing rose and fell together.

"Janey!"

"What is it?"

"Turn to me," he whispered. A slow, deep flush flowed into his forehead.
"Kiss me, Janey! You kiss me!"

It seemed to him there was a tiny pause--but long enough for him to
suffer torture--before her lips touched his, firmly, lightly--kissing
them as she always kissed him, as though the kiss--how could he describe
it?--confirmed what they were saying, signed the contract. But that
wasn't what he wanted; that wasn't at all what he thirsted for. He felt
suddenly, horrible tired.

"If you knew," he said, opening his eyes, "what it's been like--waiting
to-day. I thought the boat never would come in. There we were, hanging
about. What kept you so long?"

She made no answer. She was looking away from him at the fire. The
flames hurried--hurried over the coals, flickered, fell.

"Not asleep, are you?" said Hammond, and he jumped her up and down.

"No," she said. And then: "Don't do that, dear. No, I was thinking. As
a matter of fact," she said, "one of the passengers died last night--a
man. That's what held us up. We brought him in--I mean, he wasn't buried
at sea. So, of course, the ship's doctor and the shore doctor--"

"What was it?" asked Hammond uneasily. He hated to hear of death. He
hated this to have happened. It was, in some queer way, as though he and
Janey had met a funeral on their way to the hotel.

"Oh, it wasn't anything in the least infectious!" said Janey. She was
speaking scarcely above her breath. "It was heart." A pause. "Poor
fellow!" she said. "Quite young." And she watched the fire flicker and
fall. "He died in my arms," said Janey.

The blow was so sudden that Hammond thought he would faint. He couldn't
move; he couldn't breathe. He felt all his strength flowing--flowing
into the big dark chair, and the big dark chair held him fast, gripped
him, forced him to bear it.

"What?" he said dully. "What's that you say?"

"The end was quite peaceful," said the small voice. "He just"--and
Hammond saw her lift her gentle hand--"breathed his life away at the
end." And her hand fell.

"Who--else was there?" Hammond managed to ask.

"Nobody. I was alone with him."

Ah, my God, what was she saying! What was she doing to him! This would
kill him! And all the while she spoke:

"I saw the change coming and I sent the steward for the doctor, but the
doctor was too late. He couldn't have done anything, anyway."

"But--why you, why you?" moaned