CHAPTER XVII.
The fifteenth day of her absence had come and gone and there had been no word from her.
Whether or not he had permitted himself to expect any, the suspense had been none the less almost unendurable.

He walked the floor of the studio all day long, scarcely knowing what he was about, insensible to fatigue or to anything except the dull, ceaseless beating of his heart.

He seemed older, thinner:--a man whose sands were running very swiftly.
With the dawn of the fifteenth day of her absence a gray pallor had come into his face; and it remained there.

Ogilvy and Annan sauntered into the studio to visit him, twice, and the second time they arrived bearing gifts--favourite tonics, prescriptions, and pills.
"You look like hell, Kelly," observed Sam with tactful and characteristic frankness.

"Try a few of this assorted dope.