CHAPTER VIII

ANGELA IN SORE DISTRESS


Three days afterwards O'Connell was able to dress and move about
his room. He was weak from loss of blood and the confinement that an
active man resents. But his brain was clear and vivid. They had been
three wonderful days.

Angela had made them the most amazing in his life. The memory of
those hours spent with her he would carry to his grave.

She read to him and talked to him and lectured him and comforted
him. There were times when he thanked the Power that shapes our ends
for having given him this one supreme experience. The cadences of
her voice would haunt him through the years to come.

And in a little while he must leave it all. He must stand his trial
under the "Crimes Act" for speaking at a "Proclaimed" meeting.

Well, whatever his torture he knew he would come out better equipped
for the struggle. He had learned something of himself he had so far
never dreamed of in his bitter struggle with the handicap of his
life. He had something to live for now besides the call of his
country--the call of the HEART--the cry of beauty and truth and