Yet was there not hope? Ralph had known all that had lain on the surface and he had offered her his love and had asked for hers in return. She would be brave. She would tell him all. Even though he cast her aside, she would yet have her love for him which could not harm him, but save her. She would tell him all. Then if the light of love still shone in his eyes, the light of the love he offered, the light of the love he asked, she would know it; she could trust it without fear. She was learning a lesson that might not avail her; but she was learning a lesson. On the somber background of repentance the brightest pictures of life are painted. Through the pine boughs that hung low over the trail, she caught a glimpse of hatless men who were carrying a burden between them. For a moment her heart stood still. It was death. Then her heart once more beat high. She saw Ralph's face, a face clouded with grief but yet lightened by a supernal glow. She slipped from her pony and with bowed head waited for the covered burden to pass by. Then her eyes were raised to Ralph's; her hand was in his. "It is all over, Helen; but his death was glorious. It was worth a thousand lives." Her hand in Ralph's, she heard the story of Elijah's life redeemed in death. Tears welled from her eyes and fell silently down her cheeks. Ralph was drawing her nearer; his arm was around her. "I know all now, Helen." He would have said more but she checked him gently. "No; you do not know all. I must tell you. I must." She was trying to free herself. "I want you to tell me just one thing." "I must. Then--" her eyes met his bravely. He laid his fingers gently on her lips. "I know what you would tell me, but I do not care to hear. I will not listen, Helen. Don't you believe that I know myself, that I know you?" She hid her face in her hands. "Ralph." "Stop!" Ralph's voice was strong and commanding. "Every word you speak condemns me." Slowly the hands dropped from the face that was now raised to his. The great, dark eyes were deep with questioning hope. The lips trembled with a smile that a breath would fan into life. "I must obey my master." Ralph's face was close to hers. His voice was low and strong. "Then tell me that you love me." "I love you. With all my heart and soul and strength, I love you." Gently she put him aside. "Let me go now, Ralph. I must be with Amy." CHAPTER THIRTY A woman was standing beside an iron gate all but hidden in a riotous growth of blossoming vines that opened upon a grass-grown mound. "To the memory of Elijah Berl." "He shall make the desert blossom as the rose"--was graven on the bronze plate.