then he smiled. The way to her heart he saw was through the magic of one name.

“What did Doctor Hoyle do when he was down here?”

“Him? They hain’t no one livin’ like he was.”

Then David laughed outright, a gay, contagious laugh, and after an instant she laughed also.

“I agree with you,” he said. “But you see, I am a countryman of his, and he sent me here — he knows me well — and I mean to do as he did, if — I can.”

He drew in a deep breath of utter weariness, and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands, and gazed into the blazing fire. The memories which had taken possession of his soul