it may not be very amusing to that poor Cissy in her sick-bed longing
to see her brother. It may be so far from amusing to her, that I should
hesitate to bring you there in her excited condition and subject her
to the pain that you have caused him. But I have promised her; she is
already expecting us, and the disappointment may be dangerous, and I
can only implore you--for a few moments at least--to show a little more
affection than you feel." As he made an impulsive, deprecating gesture,
yet without changing his look of restrained amusement, she stopped him
hopelessly. "Oh, of course, yes, yes, I know it is years since you have
seen them; they have no right to expect more; only--only--feeling as you
do," she burst impulsively, "why--oh, why did you come?"

Here was Bob's chance. He turned to her politely; began gravely, "I
simply came to"--when suddenly his face changed; he stopped as if struck
by a blow. His cheek flushed, and then paled! Good God! What had he
come for? To tell them that this brother they were longing for--living
for--perhaps even dying for--was dead! In his crass stupidity, his
wounded vanity over the scorn of the young girl, his anticipation of
triumph, he had forgotten--totally forgotten--what that triumph meant!
Perhaps if he had felt more keenly the death of Lasham the thought of it
would have been uppermost in his mind; but Lasham was not his partner or
associate, only a brother miner, and his single act of generosity was
in the ordinary routine of camp life. If she could think him cold and
heartless before, what would she think of him now? The absurdity of her
mistake had vanished in the grim tragedy he had seemed to have cruelly
prepared for her. The thought struck him so keenly that he stammered,
faltered, and sank helplessly into a chair.

The shock that he had received was so plain to her that her own
indignation went out in the breath of it. Her lip quivered. "Don't you