After a while this fever of the brain passed off, and left the strong man weak as a child. It seemed as if he had lost all force, even for suffering; but Ruth felt that some painful thing, that he never spoke of or hinted at, haunted him. He was strangely wakeful, and at times she felt his great eyes looking out at her from their deepening caverns, with an expression that made her heart sink.
One day he spoke to her with a suddenness that made her breath stand still.
"Ruth!"
"Father, did you speak to me?"
"Where is he?"
"Who, father?"
"You know. Is he safe out of the way?"
"Do you mean—"
The girl broke off. She could not utter Walton Hurst's name. The sick man also seemed to shrink from it.
"Is he safe?"