If he tries to get away he will destroy the--the sporting chance I mentioned just now." "I must be going back," she said, getting up.

"Several of the party were, in any case, leaving this afternoon, and I must manage to get everybody else away as well." Her mind was in a whirl of conflicting feelings and emotions.

And then, all at once, she was moved, taken away from the dreadful problem of the moment, by what she saw in Mark Gifford's face.

It was filled with a kind of sober gladness.

"Mark," she exclaimed, "what a selfish brute I've always been to you--never giving--always taking! I'll try to be different now." She held out her hand; he took it and held it closely.