had no right to interfere, you spoke the truth. No man has the right to
insist upon a fellow-creature continuing to live when life has become
intolerable.' Jim was most emphatic on this point.

'Hush! Oh, hush! I know I said it, and I have thought it too; but the
thought was born of weakness and cowardice.'

Done, who thought he understood himself clearly, and believed he had a
plan of life as precise and logical as the multiplication table, was
puzzled by a nature almost wholly emotional, and she continued:

'I mean to be brave, to meet the future with hope. It was my loneliness
that terrified me. I thought it might be always so, but perhaps real
happiness awaits me out there. I may make true friends.'

She spoke eagerly, anxiously, seeking corroboration, looking to him for
encouragement with touching wistfulness, as if he had been a graybeard
and an old and trusted friend, rather than a mere youth in years, and an
acquaintance of only a few hours.

He felt the appeal, and tried to respond.

'Yes yes,' he said. 'Then, at least, one can always fight the world. If
we can't be loved, we can make ourselves feared. There's a great deal in
that.'

The girl was surprised at his warmth, and a little startled by his
philosophy.

'I could not think that,' she said softly. 'It must be terrible to be