Page:Wadsworth Camp--the gray mask.djvu/218

208 Try as he might, Garth could not move her. She walked on towards the house.

They paused at the edge of the woods. The dark, vague mass of the building frowned at them. The windows, Garth gathered, were heavily curtained, for no gleam of light escaped.

"I am going in with you, Jim, to see it through," Nora whispered. "Don't be disapproving. I only want to help."

Impulsively he grasped her hand. For a moment he forgot the restraint she had forced upon him.

"Nora," he said hoarsely, "since I lost my temper with Black, you've not been kind. You know I want you with all my heart—"

Through the darkness her voice was filled with wistful regret and sympathy. It reminded him again that her tragic love affair, preceding their capture of Slim and George, still touched her with fingers of sorrow; had not yet given her time to adjust herself to this new ardor.

"Hush! You were not to speak of that."

But he would not let her hand go.

"And you—will you ever speak?" he asked.

"I don't know," she answered dully.

She snatched her hand away. Her voice rose.

"Don't you see? It's because I don't know that I can't let you take such chances with death. That's why I'm here, Jim."