and cheeks were
the poles of a battery between which flowed and flashed the vitality of
two sound bodies, and through which quivered the ecstasy of two souls.

Suddenly the thought of Garry and what he had been, in the days of his
brilliancy, and of what he had done to crush the lives about him came to
her. Could she not find some excuse for him, something which she might
use as her own silent defence of him in the years that were to come?

"Do you think Garry was out of his mind, Jack? He's been so depressed
lately?" she asked, all her sympathy in her voice.

"No, my blessed, I don't think so. Everybody is more or less insane who
succumbs to a crisis. Garry believed absolutely in himself and his luck,
and when the cards went against him he collapsed. And yet he was no
more a criminal at heart than I am. But that is all over now. He has his
punishment, poor boy, and it is awful when you think of it. How he could
bring himself to prove false to his trust is the worst thing about it.
This is a queer world, my darling, in which we live. I never knew much
about it until lately. It is not so at home, or was not when I was a
boy--but here you can take away a man's character, rob him of his
home, corrupt his children. You can break your wife's heart, be cruel,
revengeful; you can lie and be tricky, and no law can touch you--in
fact, you are still a respectable citizen. But if you take a dollar-bill
out of another man's cash drawer, you are sent to jail and branded as a
thief. And it is right--looked at from one standpoint--the protection
of society. It is the absence of all mercy in the enforcement of the law
that angers me."

Ruth moved her head and nestled the closer. How had she lived all the
years of her life, she thought to herself, without this shoulder to lean
on and this hand to guide her? She made no answer. She had never thought
about these things in that way before, but she would now. It was so
restful and so blissful just to have him lead her, he who was so strong
and self-reliant, and whose vision was so clear, and who never dwelt
upon the little issues. And it was such a relief to reach up her arms
and kiss him and say, "Yes, blessed," and to feel herself safe in his
hands. She had never been able to do that with her father. He had always
leaned on her when schemes of economies were to be thought out, or
details of their daily lives planned. All this was changed now. She had
found Jack's heart wide open and ha