Page:MacGrath--The luck of the Irish.djvu/332

 his hunting trip, despatched documentary evidence sufficient to establish William's right to his letter of credit, explained the situation to the management of the Raffles's, and William's financial difficulties became recollections. He had his trunk and grips brought down to the room adjacent to Ruth's, and his only care was to wait upon her, to share through the nights the burdens of the nurse, and to assume a cheerfulness he was far from feeling. Never he failed to call Ruth sister; never by word or sign did he refer to the past. When the day came when she was able to walk alone he would tell her. It was going to be very, very hard; but he had tightened up his resolve to a point where no self-interest could weaken it. He would tell her the plain, honest truth.

The slowness of Ruth's convalescence rather baffled the doctor. Apparently this young wife did not care whether she got well or not. There was none of the usual fretting over staying in bed; she seemed content to lie there upon her pillows. The doctor, however, did not confide this fact to William.

Two weeks passed before Ruth was able to sit in a chair. They carried her out to the wide veranda-gallery whence she could view the lovely panorama of the harbor. And hour after hour she sat there, staring at the ships as they came in or went out to sea.

During the hours of delirium the nurse had managed to pick up enough odds and ends of the truth to form a coherent story. And all her sym-