You'll get used to it in a minute. Now--now--"

"I can't stand it, Gerald! I can't! Can't! Kill me, Gerald, but don't
ask me to stand it!"

He stroked down the side of her, lingering at her cheek.

"Sh-h! Take your time, dear," he said, with the first furry note in his
voice. "I know it's hard, but take your time. You'll get used to me.
It's the shock, that's all. Sh-h!"

She covered his neck with kisses and scalding tears, her compassion for
him racing through her in chills.

"I could tear out my eyes, Gerald, and give them to you. I could tear
out my heart and give it to you. I'm bursting of pain. Gerald! Gerald!"

There was no sense of proportion left her. She could think only of what
her own physical suffering might do in penance. She would willingly have
opened the arteries of her heart and bled for him on the moment. Her
compassion wanted to scream. She, who had never sacrificed anything,
wanted suddenly to bleed at his feet, and prayed to do so on the
agonized crest of the moment.

"There's a girl! Why, I'm going to get well, Hester, and do what
thousands of others of the blinded are doing. Build up a new, a useful,
and a busy life."

"It's not fair! It's not fair!"