They could see one another's faces; his was working with strong excitement, and hers, earnest and friendly, looked frankly down upon him.

He clasped her hand with the strong, desperate grip of a sinking man, and her fingers responded with a warm clasp.
"Can I trust you, Phebe ?" he cried.

"I have no other chance." "I will help you, even to dying for you and yours," she answered.

The girlish fervor of her manner struck him mournfully.

Why should he burden her with his crime?
What right had he to demand any sacrifice from her?
Yet he felt she spoke the truth.