Till that moment he felt that he had never appreciated the value and the marvellous power of mere money, of the lucre which philosophers pretend to despise and men sell their souls for.

His heart almost burst in its admiration for that extraordinary Nella, who by mere personal force had raised two men out of the deepest slough of despair to the blissful heights of hope and happiness.

'These Anglo-Saxons,' he said to himself, 'what a race!' By the afternoon Eugen was noticeably and distinctly better.

The physicians, puzzled for the third time by the progress of the case, announced now that all danger was past.

The tone of the announcement seemed to Aribert to imply that the fortunate issue was due wholly to unrivalled medical skill, but perhaps Aribert was mistaken.