Then the young man said, "I wish I knew the name of my mother's friend--the one who suffered the heaviest loss through my father, and who so generously protected her in the crisis.
I would like to thank him, at least.

I begged her to tell me, but she would not.

She said he would not want me to know--that for me to attempt to reimburse him would, to his mind, rob him of his real reward." Conrad Lagrange, his head bowed, spoke quietly to the dog at his feet.
Rising, Czar laid his soft muzzle on his master's knee and looked up into the homely, world-worn face.

Gently, the strange man--so lonely and embittered in the fame that he had won--at a price--stroked the brown head.

"Your mother knew best, Aaron," he said slowly, without looking at his companion.