rowd men
took off their hats and stood silent till he had disappeared from their
sight. In the presence of that poignant grief their rage against him
ceased, swept out of their hearts by an overwhelming pity.

In one swift instant a door had opened from another and unknown world,
and through the open door a Presence, majestic, imperious, had moved
in upon them, withering with His icy breath their hot passions, smiting
their noisy clamour to guilty silence.

CHAPTER XVI

A GALLANT FIGHT

In the Rectory the night was one long agony of fear and anxiety. Adrien
had taken Mrs. Egan and her babe home in a taxi as soon as circumstances
would warrant, and then, lest they should alarm their mother, they made
pretense of retiring for the night.

After seeing their mother safely bestowed, they slipped downstairs, and,
muffling the telephone, sat waiting for news, slipping out now and then
to the street, one at a time, to watch the glare of the fire in the sky
and to listen for the sounds of rioting from the town.

At length from Victor came news of the tragedy. With whitening face,
Adrien took the message. Not for nothing had she walked the wards in
France.

"Listen, Victor," she said, speaking in a quick, firm voice. "It is
almost impossible to get a nurse in time and quite impossible to get one
skilled in this sort of case. Come for me. I shall be ready and shall
take charge. Tell Dr. Meredith I am quite free."

"All right. Lose no time."

"Oh, what is it, Adrien?" said Patricia, wringing her hands. "Is it
Jack? Or Victor?"

Adrien caught her by the shoulders: "Patricia, I want your help. No
talk! Come with me. I will tell you as I dress."

Swiftly, with no hurry or flurry, Adrien changed into her uniform,
packed her bag, giving Patricia meantime the story of the tragedy which
she had heard over the telephone.

"And to think it might have been Jack," said Patricia, wringing her
hands. "Oh, dear, dear Annette. Can't I help in some way, Adrien?"

"Patricia, listen to me, child. The first thing is keep your head. You
can help me greatly. You will take charge here and later, perhaps, you
can help me in other ways. Meantime you must assume full responsibility
for them all here. Much depends on you!"

The girl stood gazing with wide-open blue eyes at her sister. Then
quietly she answered:

"I'll do my best, Adrien. There's Vic." She rushed swiftly downstairs.
Suddenly she stopped, steadied her pace, and recei