"And so I sent to-day," he began after a while, "for a friend of yours, one with whom you can be happier than--the dying lion. He has been out of the county--sent out--it was part of the plan, part of the snare of the lion and his whelp. And so I sent for him this morning, feeling the death blow, you know. I sent him an urgent message, to meet you here at nine." He glanced at his watch. "It is past that now, but he had far to ride. He will come, I hope--ah, listen!" They heard the steps of a rider coming up the gravel walk. "It is he," said Travis calmly--"Clay." She sprang up quickly, half defiantly. The old Conway spirit flashed in her eyes and she came to him tall and splendid and with half a look of protest, half command, and yet in it begging, pleading, yearning for--she knew not what. "Why--why--did you? Oh, you do not know! You do not understand--love--love--can it be won this way--apprenticed, bargained--given away?" "You must go with him, he loves you. He will make you happy. I am dying--is not part of me already dead?" For answer she came to him, closer, and stood by him as one who in war stands by a comrade shot through and ready to fall. He put his arms around her and drew her to him closer, and she did not resist--but as a child would, hers also she wound around his neck and whispered: "My lion! Oh, kill me--kill me--let me die with you!" "Child--my precious one--my--oh, God, and you--forgive me this. But let me kiss you once and dream--dream it is she"-- She felt his kisses on her hair, her eyes. "Good-bye--Alice--Alice--good-bye--forever--" He released her, but she clung to him sobbing. Her head lay on his breast, and she shook in the agony of it all. "You will forgive me, some day--when you know--how I loved her," he gasped, white and with a bitter light in his face. She looked up: "I would die," she said simply, "for a love like that." They heard the steps of a man approaching the house. She sat down on the old sofa pale, trembling and with bitterness in her heart. Travis walked to the door and opened it: "Come in, Clay," he said quietly. "I am glad that my man found you. We have been waiting for you." "I finished that survey and came as fast as I could. Your man rode on to The Gaffs, but I came here as you wrote me to do," and Clay came in quietly, speaking as he walked to the fire. CHAPTER XIX FACE TO FACE WITH DEATH He came in as naturally as if the house were still inhabited, though he saw the emptiness of it all, and guessed the cause. But when he saw Helen, a flushed surprise beamed through his eyes and he gave her his hand. "Helen!--why, this is unexpected--quite unusual, I must say." She did not speak, as she gave him her hand, but smiled sadly. It meant: "Mr. Travis will tell you all. I know nothing. It is all his planning." Clay sat down in an old chair by the fire and warmed his hands, looking thoughtfully at the two, now and then, and wonderingly. He was not surprised when Travis said: