“I’d sooner die,” he cried, catching her wrist. “No. He shall not know. There, I can see clearly now. That horrible weakness is always taking me now, and when it’s on I feel as if I should kill myself.”
“Harry!”
“Hush! I know now. We must go before he comes back.”
“We?” she said aghast.
“Yes, we. I’m not fit to be alone. You must come with me, Lou, and help me. If I go alone I shall go mad.”
“Oh, Harry! my darling brother.”
“Yes,” he cried in a hoarse whisper; “I know I shall. It’s too horrible to live alone, as I’ve been living. You must come with me and save me—from myself—from everybody. Why do you look at me like that?”
He caught her by the shoulder, and glared at her with a long, fierce stare.
“I—I could not leave home, Harry,” she said faintly.
“You must, you shall,” he cried, “unless you want me to really die.”