"I'd never have mentioned it, only——"
"You should have told me long ago. I'm so—sorry and ashamed."
"There, now! It's all right!" He took her two slim hands in his and patted them kindly.
"You've sent me thousands of dollars. I can never pay it back."
"Ye don't have to pay it back."
"But—why did you do it? Why?"
"I'll tell ye why," answered Hiram thoughtfully. "Because I loved yer father, that's one reason, and another is I—I've always loved you, Betty, ever since ye was little."
"Guardy!" she whispered tenderly. "But you must see that——"
"Wait, Betty! The bookkeepin' of life is a queer thing. Ye don't have to make the deservin' column and the lovin' column balance. When ye love ye don't give things because ye owe 'em; ye don't use a scale or a measurin' cup, ye just give and give, and ye can't give enough—because ye love."
The girl's eyes filled with tears; she tried to speak, but the words choked in her throat.