Kitty was silent. She did not like the major enough even to give him false hope. She stood by the bedside, and the grey look crept up and up the dying soldier's face. He lay very still, his eyes staring straight before him.
"Sit down," he said at last.
The little figure dropped into a seat near the foot of the bed.
"You dislike me very much?" he said then.
"I—hate you," answered the girl.
There was another silence.
"It seems wrong to hate a poor chap who is dying, and who, after all, has given his life for his country," said the major then.
Kitty was silent.
"I would rather die without a woman in my presence who hates me," he said, after a pause.
"Shall I go?" said Kitty, rising.