HOW TOMMY SAVED THE FLAG He loved at last, but had no time to exult just now, for he could not rejoice with Tommy while his dear one drooped in shame.

Ah, so well he understood that she believed she had done the unpardonable thing in woman, and that while she thought so she must remain a broken column.
It was a great task he saw before him--nothing less than to make her think that what she had done was not shameful, but exquisite; that she had not tarnished the flag of love, but glorified it.

Artfulness, you will see, was needed; but, remember, he was now using all his arts in behalf of the woman he loved.
"You were so long in coming back to me, Grizel.

The agony of it!" "Did it seem long ?" She spoke in a trembling voice, hiding her face in him.

She listened like one anxious to seize his answer as it left his heart.
"So long," he answered, "that it seemed to me we must be old when we met again.