She had come upon him abruptly, at the turn of the stairs, and for a moment she stood silent, overcome by a chaos of emotions.
If she expected the door to open she was disappointed, for the trusty simply withdrew half a dozen paces leaving the prisoner and his visitor to face each other and converse through the narrow space between the bars.
"I received your note," Beard broke the embarrassing silence, "and I can't tell you how much it cheered me." She advanced nearer the door, and extending a gloved hand through the bars, permitted it to repose an instant in the prisoner's grateful palm.
"I had to come," she murmured, "although father went into a fury when I told him." "And you came to cheer me--to tell me you believe in me ?" Something far deeper than mere gratitude shone in his eyes, and was reflected in the agitated countenance of the girl.
"I came to tell you that I broke my engagement to Lester Ward," she said in quivering voice.
Cautiously Britz peered at the couple through the iron grating of his cell.

He noted the tremor which passed down Beard's form and the furtive caress which he bestowed on the visitor's hand.

At the same time the girl lifted her veil, disclosing a finely molded face of flawless features, with a skin of exquisite paleness, and flashing brown eyes shaded by long, dark lashes.

As she stood with fingers encircling the bars that interposed between her and Beard, her beautiful face took on a purposeful aspect, as of one suddenly possessed of a new and consuming interest in life.
The news which she had brought the prisoner cheered him perceptibly.

But he regarded her as if even now he found it difficult to credit her with the courage she must have displayed in discarding the man whom she had promised to wed.
"How did it happen ?" inquired Beard in a voice that betrayed his bewildered state of mind.
"You must have known, your instinct must have told you that I accepted him because of father's urging," she said.