ou know that better than I do."

"Yes--yes. They must have food."

"She suggested the going out herself," said Dowie. "I'd thought she'd be
too weak and listless to move. And they _ought_ to have exercise."

"They _must_ have exercise," agreed Doctor Benton, but he still rubbed
his chin. "Did she seem excited or feverish?"

"No, sir, she didn't. That was the strange thing. It was me that was
excited though I kept quiet on the outside. At first it frightened me. I
was afraid of--what you're afraid of, sir. It was only her _not_ being
excited--and speaking in her own natural voice that helped me to behave
as sense told me I ought to. She was _happy_--that's what she looked and
what she was."

She stopped a moment here and looked at the man. Then she decided to go
on because she saw chances that he might, to a certain degree,
understand.

"When she told me that he was not dead when she saw him, she said that
she was not dead any more herself--that she had come alive. If believing
it will keep her feeling alive, sir, wouldn't you say it would be a
help?"

The Doctor had ceased rubbing his chin but he looked deeply thoughtful.
He had several reasons for thoughtfulness in connection with the matter.
In the present whirl of strange happenings in a mad war-torn world,
circumstances which would once have seemed singular seemed so no longer
because nothing was any longer normal. He realised that he had been by
no means told all the details surrounding this special case, but he had
understood clearly that it was of serious importance that this girlish
creature's child should be preserved. He wondered how much more the
finely mannered old family nurse knew than he did.

"Her vitality must be kept up-- Nothing could be worse than inordinate
grief," he said. "We must not lose any advantage. But she must be
closely watched."

"I'll watch her, sir," answered Dowie. "And every order you give I'll
obey like clockwork. Might I take the liberty of saying that I believe
it'll be best if you don't mention the dream to her!"

"Perhaps you are right. On the whole I think you are. It's not wise to
pay attention to hallucinations."

He did not mention the dream to Robin, but his visit was longer than
usual. After it he drove down the moor thinking of curious things. The
agonised tension of the war, he told himself, seemed to be developing
new phases--mental, nervous, psychic, as well as physiological. What
unreality--or previously