Page:Elizabeth Jordan--Tales of the city room.djvu/218

 hidden from her she could see in his attitude the despair against which he had so bravely fought. She left the window and sat down in a low chair, her face a little in the shadow. Herforth went on slowly and more seriously.

"Just before we parted, Hatfeld turned to me and said: 'I'm going to have them cable you when it's all over, old man—not that I want to depress you, but because I want you to do something for me. Don't ask me why or anything about it. But when you receive that cablegram, I want you to send a box of red roses to Miss Bancroft."

Herforth paused a moment and poked the fire with creditable considerateness. His voice had become a trifle unsteady. Though he could not have analyzed it, for he knew they had never met, there was something in Miss Bancroft's manner as she listened which moved him strangely. She looked at him and opened her lips, but closed them again without speaking. The expression in her beautiful eyes made Herforth turn his own away.

"I got the cablegram this morning," he said softly.