Edra had taken her place by my side.

"Have you nothing more to ask?" she said at length, with an accent of
surprise.

"No; nothing more. What you have told me has made me very happy--what
more can I wish to know?"

"But there is more to tell you, Smith. We know now that your illness is
the result of your own imprudence; and as soon as you are well enough to
leave your room and bear it, you must suffer the punishment."

"What! Punished for being ill!" I exclaimed, sitting bolt upright in my
bed. "What do you mean, Edra? I never heard such outrageous nonsense in
my life!"

She was disturbed at this outburst, but quietly and gravely repeated
that I must certainly be punished for my illness.

Remembering what their punishments were, I had the prospect of a second
long separation from Yoletta, and the thought of such excessive
severity, or rather of such cruel injustice, made me wild. "By Heaven, I
shall not submit to it!" I exclaimed. "Punished for being ill--who ever
heard of such a thing! I suppose that by-and-by it will be discovered
that the bridge of my nose is not quite straight, or that I can't see
round the corner, and that also will be set down as a crime, to be
expiated in solitary confinement, on a bread-and-water diet! No, you
shall not punish me; rather than give in to such tyranny I'll walk off
and leave the house for ever!"