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It was on the afternoon of the following day that a new and serious coht had passed without incident of any kind; and shortly after sunrise the little party h the night Anstice had coh there was no improvement in his patient's condition, neither did he seerih this extreh, Anstice still cherished that very faint, very tiht

He had never wished so fervently for the power to save a life as in this particular case Gone was all re between theain which this man had forced upon hiot that Bruce Cheniston had been unjust, callous, a very Shylock in his eager grasping of his pound of flesh; and he remembered only that this man had won Iris' love, and thereby established his claiht reasonably bestow

The fact that Iris must needs be adversely affected by her husband's death was sufficient in itself to rouse his wish to save Cheniston's life if that life could be saved; and during the day, when the vigil of the little garrison ht be relaxed, he was assiduous in his care of thethe sun-baked desert

Only once Cheniston roused himself sufficiently to hold a few minutes' laboured conversation with Anstice; and afterwards the latter was not perfectly certain of Bruce's co of the words he used

"Iris--how is she?" His voice was so weak that Anstice could barely hear it; but he guessed what it was that the other man wished to ask; and answered at once: "Mrs Cheniston is quite well--only a little tired She is lying down for an hour, but if you want her I'll go and call her"

"No Don't disturb her," said Bruce feebly; and then, after a pause, he uttered the words which, later, seemed to Anstice a reflection on his perfect mental poise at the moment "Poor little Iris--it wasn't fair to marry her--I wish to God I'd left her--to you"

For a minute Anstice sat silent, absolutely stunned by this extraordinary stateain

"You loved her--so did I--in a way--but I've never really loved anyone--but--Hilda Ryder" The unconscious pathos in his tone robbed the words of all offence "But she's a dear little soul--Iris--and I only wish I'd not been beast enough--to marry her--to spite you----" The thin voice trailed away into a whisper and Anstice spoke resolutely