"Never."

"Nor her brother?"

"Nor her brother."

"And the locket?"

"It is here where she placed it."

At this instant the moon rolled out from behind a cloud, and shone full on
his face. He drew out his watch-chain, touched it with his thumb-nail, and
placed the trinket in my hand. It was such as a child might wear, an
enameled thread encircling it. Through the glass I could see the tiny nest
of jet-black hair.

For some moments neither of us spoke. At last, with my heart aglow, my
whole nature profoundly stirred by the unconscious nobility of the man, I
said:--

"My friend, do you know why she bound the bracelet to your wrist?"

"No; that always puzzled me. I have often wondered."

"She bound the bracelet to your wrist, as of old a maid would have wound
her scarf about the shield of her victorious knight, as the queen would
pin the iron cross to the breast of a hero. You were the first gentleman
she had ever known in her life."