"No, No!" he said, harshly. "There are other things in life. You don't
know what you are doing. You are not responsible."

The dark eyes opened upon him then--wide, reproachful, mysteriously
far-seeing. "I shall not be responsible--if you make me live," said the
Dragon-Fly, with the air of one risking a final desperate throw.

It was almost an open challenge, and it was accepted instantly, with
grim decision. "Very well. The responsibility is mine," the man said
briefly. "Come with me!"

His arm encircled the narrow shoulders. He drew his young companion
unresisting from the spot. They left the glare of the furnace behind
them, and threaded their way through dark and winding alleys back to the
throbbing life of the city thoroughfares, back into the whirl and
stress of that human existence which both had nearly quitted--and one
had strenuously striven to quit--so short a time before.




CHAPTER II

NOBODY'S BUSINESS


"My name is Merryon," the man said, curtly. "I am a major in the Indian
Army--home on leave. Now tell me about yourself!"