"Oh, Elmer! My heart——"
He had been gazing absently out of the window at the fading twilight, and hearing her cry of pain, he turned hastily and said:
"Alma, what is it? Are you——"
He caught sight of the picture on the wall. He understood it at once, and went to the stereopticon that stood at the other end of the room and opened it. The lamp was burning brightly, and he put it out and closed the door. Then he drew out the glass slide, held it a moment to the light to make sure that it was Alma's portrait, and then he kissed it passionately, and shivered it into fragments upon the hearthstone.
She heard the breaking glass, and rose hastily and turned toward him.
"Elmer, that was cruel. Why did you destroy it?"
"Because it told too much."
"It was my picture?"
"Yes. I confess with shame that I stole it when you were asleep under the influence of the gas I gave you. It happened to be in the lantern when you came in."
"And so I saw it pictured on the wall?"