he's sure to wake at any moment. You must tell your guardian to sail away, this very day."
She did not hear him, for she had swooned again, and he had to bear her and the light too, crouching under the low walls, to the dungeon, deep under the foundations of the house. They emerged into the sub-cellar, then, depositing his precious burden, he raised the trap-door, picked up the girl again, bore her up three flights, and placed her tenderly on the bed where the little exquisite old lady had lain with the flowers.
For a few long heart-beats he gazed on her face as she lay so still, knowing that he would never hold her in his arms again, and striving to impress the pure features forever in his memory.
As she stirred, a tiny object dropped to the floor. He picked it up and smiled. It was so typically American,—the little pennant-shaped pin of sterling silver and cheap enamel. The significance of the letters S. H. S. he could not read, but he slipped it in his pocket.
It was a fair exchange for a chest of gold.
Then he bent over and kissed her on the forehead—once, very gently, and finding that her eyes did not open, hurried down the stairway for water from the spring.
And the girl knew that he had kissed her.
