“He took off his coat and rolled up his shirt sleeve. His heavy flannel undershirt was saturated with blood. The pin points had entered the upper arm with great force and the wounds were bleeding profusely. I felt sorry when I saw what I had done, and I offered to bind them up for him. He gave me his handkerchief and I bandaged it up tightly. Then he sat down, pale and trembling, weak from the loss of blood. I was in about the same condition from nervousness. He urged me to take a stimulant of some kind, and I finally consented and took my first drink of whiskey and absinthe. He told me all about his wife and how happy they had been the one short year she had been spared to him. He told me how she suffered on her deathbed and with what fortitude she bore up under it, trying with her last breath to cheer him and asking him to live for her baby’s sake. “The tears rolled down his cheeks and I cried in sympathy. “‘My angel wife is dead and her baby—our baby. No one cares for me now nor what I do. I have lost all my friends since she died and nearly all my money. I have been drinking and gambling and was in my cups when I came to you to-night. I would not hesitate a minute to kill myself if it were not for the fear that I should never meet her in heaven.” “‘Do you think what you have done to-night would please her if she can look down and see you? You deliberately enticed an innocent girl here, one whom you surely must know was innocent, and for what purpose I can form but one opinion.’ “He went down on his knees beside me and begged my forgiveness. “‘Give me one kiss to show me that you forgive me,’ he said. “He called the waiter and ordered another drink apiece, which I should not have taken. It went to my head and when I tried to walk I staggered. He took me in his arms and that is the last I remember until I felt the wind blowing on my face. “I was leaning against him in the carriage. I did not know where I was going and I did not care. The thought of Will came to me but dimly. I felt no compunction, and if I had it would not have aroused me from my stupor sufficiently to make me active. “When I came to my senses I was home, thank heaven! Just as pure as when I left. They told me I had been brought home ill; had had a sudden attack of heart failure and had been given something to stimulate me. So much for the whiskey breath. “When Will returned I met him as usual, but with, oh, so much keener appreciation of his goodness than I had ever felt before. I had had an experience which taught me his sterling worth. I realized how unscrupulous men were when they had no interest in a woman beyond that of a passing fancy.