such pain upon one of his
creatures. Why should this Christian be crucified? But I must not say such
things. Twice I came near to putting those tablets in the glass and giving
it to him to drink, but both times I shrank even as I took them up from
the table. I shall never forget the look of joy that came into his eyes
when he saw me pick them up, nor shall I ever forget the look he gave me
when I threw them down and put my fingers to my ears to shut out the sound
of his moans. It would have been so easy to end it all for him. No one
could have known, and he would have died thanking me for one good deed at
least. Yesterday when I failed him for the second time, he made the most
horrible confession to me. He said that when he married me a year ago he
knew that this very crisis would come and that he had counted on me then
as his deliverer! He actually said to me, Braden, that all this was in his
mind when he married me. Can't you understand? If the time ever came when
he wanted to die, who would be more likely to serve his purpose than the
young, avaricious wife who loved another man? Oh, he was not thinking of
your good, my friend,--at least, not entirely. He did not want you to throw
yourself away on me, that's true, but your preservation was not his sole
object, let me assure you. He planned deeper than we knew. He looked ahead
for one year and saw what was coming, and he counted on me,--he counted on
the wife he had bought. Once he asked me if I had the faintest idea how
many wives have killed strong and healthy husbands in order that they
might wed the men they loved better. If murderesses can do that, said he,
why should I hesitate, when there could be no such thing as murder in
my--oh, it was too terrible! Thank God, he thinks better of me now than he
did on the day he married me. Even though he is your grandfather, Braden,
I can say to you frankly that if taking his own life means going to hell
for him, I would see him in hell before I would--"

"Anne, Anne!" cried he, shaken. "Don't say it! It is too horrible. Think
of what you were about to say and--"

"Oh, I've thought, my friend," she broke in fiercely. "It is time for you
to think of what he would have done for me. He would have sent me to hell
in his place. Do you understand? Do you suppose that if I had killed him,
even with mercy and kindness in my heart, I could ever have escaped from a
hell on earth, no matter what God's judgment may have been hereafter?