, your letter, Alice," Ethel answered composedly.

Alice's laugh was sharp and edged with malice.

"Yes, dear. My letter, telling you of his being here, will be
delivered at your house to-morrow morning."

"Oh, then I must have mixed things up," Ethel replied, as she turned
to face her cousin. "Probably Captain Frazer told me."

"Captain Frazer?"

"Yes, he came down to Cape Town, just before I left there. I
remember now, he was the one who told me. He was near Mr. Weldon at
Vlaakfontein; he knew all about his awful ride into Krugersdorp, and
I believe he did say he was to be brought here."

For a moment more, the two pairs of eyes, the blue and the black,
met in steady warfare, neither one yielding in the least, neither
one quite aware how much she was betraying to the other.

"Well, what of it?" Ethel demanded tempestuously then.

"Nothing, only--are you sure you were wise to come?"

The blue eyes blazed.

"And what do you mean by that, Alice? You asked me to visit you
here, to see your work among your patients. I have come. If I came
at all, it had to be now. I can't always leave home for a week at a
time. And I can't help it, can I, if Mr. Weldon happens to be one of
your patients?"

"No; you can't," Alice admitted slowly. "It only remains to be seen
whether you would care to help it, if you could."

Again Ethel crossed the room. This time, she dropped down at her
cousin's side.

"Don't let us argue about it and get cross at each other, dear. If I
have made a mistake in coming now, I am sorry. But I am here. Let me
stay a few days; I may be able to help you a little. Anyway, I
promise not to be a trouble to you. It is so long since I have seen
you, Alice. And--" Again the silence dropped.

Alice roused herself from the reverie which was creeping over her.
She was glad to see Ethel, unfeignedly glad. The bright, animated
presence of her cousin, during the next few days, could not fail to
be a tonic. And, as Ethel had said, she herself had been the one to
suggest the first idea of the winter visit. Chance and Captain
Frazer had decreed that it should take place now, when Alice's hands
were immoderately full of work. But then, so much the better. Ethel
could make herself invaluable among the convalescents. She herself
had not put on her Red-Cross badge for the sake of taking her rest
hour at the bedside of Trooper Harvard Weldon.

Half undressed, Ethel paused, hair brush in hand. "You can't imagine
h