There are so many duties pressing me--" and Brant took a hasty step toward the open door, his attentive ear catching the sound of a light footstep in the hallway.

He met Naida just without, pale and tearless.

Both her hands were extended to him unreservedly.
"Tell me, will he live ?" "The doctor thinks yes." "Thank God! Oh, thank God!" She pressed one hand against her heart to control its throbbing.

"You cannot know what this means to me." Her eyes seemed now for the first time to mark his own deplorable condition.

"And you?
You have not been hurt, Lieutenant Brant ?" He smiled back into her anxious eyes.