After she raised her head she seemed unable, for a moment, to take up her task where it had been broken off, and Steele lay as if he really were dead.

Here I got up, and seating myself beside Sally, I put an arm around her.

"Sally dear, there are others," I said.
"Oh, Russ--what's to come of it all ?" she faltered, and then she broke down and began to cry softly.

I would have been only too glad to tell her what hung in the balance, one way or another, had I known.

But surely, catastrophe! Then I heard Steele's voice again and its huskiness, its different tone, made me fearful, made me strain my ears when I tried, or thought I tried, not to listen.
"Diane, you know how hard my duty is, don't you ?" "Yes, I know--I think I know." "You've guessed--about your father ?" "I've seen all along you must clash.