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r, it's no good," he said. "Let him go!" "But, Burke--" she cried. "Oh, Burke----" "I know," he made answer, still soothing her. "But it can't be done--anyhow at present. You'll drive him away if you attempt it. I know. I've done it. Leave him alone till the devil has gone out of him! He'll come back then--and be decent--for a time." His meaning was unmistakable. The force of what he said drove in upon her irresistibly. She burst into tears, hiding her face against his shoulder in her distress. "But how dreadful! Oh, how dreadful! He is killing himself. I think--the Guy--I knew--is dead already." "No, he isn't," Burke said, and he held her with sudden closeness as he said it. "He isn't--and that's the hell of it. But you can't save him. No one can." She lifted her face sharply. There was something intolerable in the words. With the tears upon her cheeks she challenged them. "He can be saved! He must be saved! I'll do it somehow--somehow!" "You may try," Burke said, as he suffered her to release herself. "You won't succeed." She forced a difficult smile with quivering lips. "You don't know me. Where there's a will, there's a way. And I shall find it somehow." He looked grim for an instant, then smiled an answering smile. "Don't perish in the attempt!" he said. "That do-or-die look of yours is rather ominous. Don't forget you're my partner! I can't spare you, you know." She uttered a shaky laugh. "Of course you can't. Blue Hill Farm would go to pieces without me, wouldn't it? I've often thought I'm quite indispensable." "You are to me," said Burke briefly; and ere the quick colour had sprung to her face, he also had gone his way. CHAPTER VIII THE INTERRUPTION Sylvia meant to ride round to Guy's hut in search of him that evening, but when the time came something held her back. Burke's words, "You'll drive him away," recurred to her again and again, and with them came a dread of intruding that finally prevailed against her original intention. He must not think for a moment that she desired to spy upon him, even though that dreadful craving in his eyes haunted her perpetually, urging her to action. It seemed inevitable that for a time at least he must fight his devil alone, and with all her strength she prayed that he might overcome. In the end she rode out with Burke, covering a considerable distance, and returning tired in body but refreshed in min
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