A long talk between Mrs. Bartlett, Jennie, and Gilbert followed; and the young lieutenant was shown the papers taken from Nuggy Polk, which he perused with keen interest. Then he told of the affair at the prison, but modestly refused to relate how much of a hero he had been. “Somehow, I think Nuggy Polk will be a better fellow after this,” he concluded. “He has been brought face to face with death, and that often makes a difference in a man.” “I hope he does turn over a new leaf,” answered Mrs. Bartlett. The young lieutenant was invited to remain at the Bartletts’ home over night, but could not do so, as it was his duty to return to the troops he had accompanied from Pekin. He had no time off again for two days, when he got a leave of absence for three hours, and went over to the new prison to see how Nuggy Polk was faring. A change had indeed come over the young man,--a change so startling that Gilbert was almost dumfounded. Nuggy’s face was pinched and white, and there was a look in his eyes which gave him the appearance of being haunted. He stared wildly at the young lieutenant. “So it was you who saved me?” he said in a strangely unnatural voice. “I can’t believe it!” “And why not, Polk?” asked Gilbert, as he sat down beside the bed. “Why not? Why should you save me--after all I did against you?” “I wasn’t thinking of that. I was thinking of saving a fellow-being who couldn’t save himself. Not to have done as I did would have been inhuman.” “You risked your life for mine!” “Perhaps I did. But let us pass that over, and talk of something else. How do you feel now?” “I am sick--I was sick before the fire. This climate has knocked out my stomach.” Gilbert was on the point of asking if liquor had not had as much to do with it as the climate, but wisely refrained. “You want to take care of yourself in the future,” he remarked. “Be very careful of what you eat and drink.” “I shall be careful. I’m not going to drink any more,--at least, not as I’ve been in the habit of drinking. But, Pennington, I want to talk to you. As I said before, I can’t understand why you risked your life for mine.” “Then don’t try to understand it. It is past now.” “You are a better fellow than I am,--a good deal better,” persisted Nuggy. “I don’t believe I would have tried to save you under the same circumstances.” “Then it is a good thing that I am myself and you are yourself,” said Gilbert, not knowing how else to reply. “You are a true Christian, Pennington,--a real, practical Christian.” “Thank you. I have tried to be so--even though I am a soldier.” “Ninety-nine men out of a hundred would have let me burn up,” continued Nuggy, with a deep shudder. “I know just how tight I was at that window. I couldn’t budge, and I was suffering the tortures of the infernal region. I was sure my end had come, when you released me.” “There was certainly no time to spare.”