end. She is determined to face what I face for the present."

"And you're determined to let her!" growled the colonel.

Merryon shrugged his shoulders.

"You'll probably lose her," the colonel persisted, gnawing fiercely at
his moustache. "Have you considered that?"

"I've considered everything," Merryon said, rather heavily. "But she
came to me--through that inferno. I can't send her away again. She
wouldn't go."

Colonel Davenant swore under his breath. "Let me talk to her!" he said,
after a moment.

The ghost of a smile touched Merryon's face. "It's no good, sir. You can
talk. You won't make any impression."

"But it's practically a matter of life and death, man!" insisted the
colonel. "You can't afford any silly sentiment in an affair like this."

"I am not sentimental," Merryon said, and his lips twitched a little
with the words. "But all the same, since she has set her heart on
staying, she shall stay. I have promised that she shall."

"You are mad," the colonel declared. "Just think a minute! Think what
your feelings will be if she dies!"

"I have thought, sir." The dogged note was in Merryon's voice again. His