Now that death was near, so near that even now it might be calling his
earnest spirit out of the darkness, she would do more--a thousandfold!
--to give him life. Only life, the gentle, strong soul of him safe in
the sturdy body!
And she had but hastened the end she had come to avert!
"Jesu mia," she prayed, from the shelter of her arms, "help! Help Thou
--Lord of Heaven, give him to be spared!"
And not once did she think of the great quest, broken by a meagre
waiting by the way; no thought crossed her mind in this crisis of the
Land of the Whispering Hills, of an old man, dreaming his dreams in the
wilderness.
Thus had love set aside like a bauble the thing for which her life had
been lived, for which she had grown and prepared herself in the
attainments of men.
She had felt the magic touch of the great mystery, and henceforth she
was captive, servant to its will, and its mandate had been service.
And here was the end--
A hand touched her shoulder, a hand infinitely soft of prcssurc,
infinitely gentle.
"Ma'amselle," whispered the cavalier in her ear, "one more turn of the
wheel of Fate,--and we take the plunge together. Kin are we, truly; kin
of the tribe of Daring Hearts.
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