A child! His child — that doctor’s child? He hated the thought of it, and the old impulse to strike down anything or any creature that stood in his way seized him — the impulse that, unchecked, had made him a murderer. He could kill, kill! Cassandra gathered the little body to her heart and, standing still before him, looked into his eyes. Instinctively she knew that only calmness and faith in his right action would give her the mastery now, and with a prayer in her heart she spoke quietly.

“How came you here, Frale? You wrote mother you’d gone to Texas.” His figure relaxed, and his arms dropped, but still he bent forward and gazed eagerly into her eyes.

“I come back when I heered he war gone. I come back right soon. Cate Irwin’s wife writ me