“Kick right over the traces. I would. I couldn’t go on as I have been going, lonely, like a lost dog.”

She raised his fingers and rubbed them along her lips.

“You will not be lonely,” said the unfortunate man in a muted voice. “You need not be afraid of that.” The utter inadequacy of the remark came to him like one of those nightmare recognitions encountered as a rule only in Dreamland. Yet she seemed to find it sufficient, her mind perhaps being engaged elsewhere.

“What would you have said if I had run away from you for good?” asked she. “Would you have been sorry?”

“Yes—dreadfully.”

“Are you glad I’ve come back?”

“I am.”

“Honestly glad?”

“Yes.”

“Really glad?”