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At last he said in a low voice full of feeling: "You heard me?"

Her eyes, which he had held with his look, wavered, faltered, and drooped "I was afraid," he said as her silence confir I looked and thought I saw you going back to your couch" There was grave self-reproach in his tone, but no reproach for her Nevertheless her heart burned with sha face in her hands and cried out: "I aht from the tone of your voice you were in trouble I was afraid so to help----"

"You poor child!" he said deeply hten you It is reat loneliness out here has cultivated it I did not realize that I ht disturb you What must you think of me? What can you think?"

"Think!" she burst forth softly "I think you are all wrong to try to keep a thing like that to yourself!"

And then the fullof what she had said broke upon her, and her face cri at her with an eager light in his eyes

"What do you mean?" he asked "Won't you please explain?"

Hazel was sitting noith her face entirely turned away, and the soft hair blowing concealingly about her burning cheeks She felt as if she et up and run away into the desert and end this terrible conversation She was getting in deeper and deeper every minute

"Please!" said the gentle, firht--to know--a thing like that!" she faltered desperately

"Why?" asked the voice again after a pause

"Because--she--she--ht not ever know there was such a love for a woman in the world!" she stammered, still with her head turned quite away from him She felt that she could never turn around and face this wonderful round would open and show her so, so long that it frightened her, but she dared not turn and look at hi with bowed head for solance to the sky again as if to ask a swift permission Then he spoke