She uttered a queer choking laugh. "Life is a big, big swindle," she
said. "The only happy people in the world are those who haven't found it
out. But you--you say there are other things in life besides suffering.
How did you know that if--if you've never had anything but dregs?"

"Ah!" Merryon said. "You have me there."

He was still looking full into those shadowy eyes with a curious,
dawning fellowship in his own.

"You have me there," he repeated. "But I do know. I was happy enough
once, till--" He stopped.

"Things went wrong?" insinuated the Dragon-Fly, sitting down on her
heels in a childish attitude of attention.

"Yes," Merryon admitted, in his sullen fashion. "Things went wrong. I
found I was the son of a thief. He's dead now, thank Heaven. But he
dragged me under first. I've been at odds with life ever since."

"But a man can start again," said the Dragon-Fly, with her air of
worldly wisdom.

"Oh, yes, I did that." Merryon's smile was one of exceeding bitterness.
"I enlisted and went to South Africa. I hoped for death, and I won a
commission instead."

The girl's eyes shone with interest. "But that was luck!" she said.