Mrs. Howard, Bayard Lorraine, and the careful nurse shared her vigils by the bedside of the dying man, and nothing but kind words were spoken to him. They tried to forget the dark past and look upon him only in the halo cast by his dauntless bravery.
One day the nurse had gone out for a little recreation, and Mrs. Howard and Fair were watching him as he slept.
The latter whispered thoughtfully:
“Do you remember those beautiful lines:
“Oh, whether on the scaffold high,
Or in the battle’s van,
The bravest place where man can die
Is where he dies for man!”
“Yes; I have thought of them often in the last few days,” said Mrs. Howard, and just then she saw that the prince was awake and listening to them with a smile.
His eyes turned to Fair, and he said gently: