‘She must have had a very noble nature,’ said the world at last, when the shrieking pipe of irritated criticism had died away, and when from the dark vista of death Delicia’s star of fame shone clear, ‘Her husband was not worthy of her!’ And Paul Valdis, stricken to the soul with a grief beyond expression, heard this great verdict of the world finally pronounced, with an anguish of mind, and a despair as tragic as that of Romeo when he found his lady in her death-like sleep. ‘Too late, too late! My love, my darling!’ he groaned in bitterness of spirit. ‘What is it worth, all this shouting of praise over your silent grave? Oh, my Delicia! All you sought was love; so little to ask, my darling, so little in return for all the generous overflow of your gifted soul! If you could have loved me; but no! I would not have had you change your nature; you would not have been Delicia had you loved more than once!’ And his eyes rested tenderly on the wistful companion of his musing, Spartan, who had been left to his care in a very special manner, with a little note from Delicia herself, which was delivered to him by her lawyers and which ran thus:— ‘DEAR FRIEND,—Take care of Spartan. He will be contented with you, for he loves you. Please console him and make him happy for my sake. DELICIA.’ Valdis knew that little letter by heart; it was more priceless to him than any other worldly possession. ‘Spartan,’ he said now, calling the faithful animal to his side and taking his shaggy, massive head between his hands, ‘Out of the whole world that calls our Delicia “famous,” the world that has gained new beauty, hope and joy from the blossoming of her genius,—only you and I loved her!’ Spartan sighed. He had become a melancholy, meditative creature, and his great brown eyes were often suffused with tears. Had he been able to answer his new master then, he might have said,— ‘Honesty is an ordinary quality in dogs, but it is exceptional in men. Dogs love and are faithful; men desire, and with possession are faithless! Yet men, so they say, are higher in the scale of creation than dogs. I do not understand this. If truth, fidelity and devotion are virtues, then dogs are superior to men; if selfishness, cunning and hypocrisy are virtues, then men are certainly superior to dogs! I cannot argue it out, being only a dog myself; but to me it seems a strange world!’