even if you came back I should put you away, but that surely you were dead. But I wouldn't believe it."
"Go on, Margaret!" he cried.
"Then came the message of the wild goose!"
"What?"
She told him of that.
"What a strange thing!" He stared at her for a moment. "And how nearly true that was!"
"It was true; that was it, Eric! Oh, my love—forgive me, but I had to say it that once—that message made me almost mad. I knew it mightn't be real—that is, I knew it might not have been sent by you; but everything in my soul told me that what it said was true. You were safe. You needed help. And I had to send it to you!"
"My poor sweet heart!"
"Eric, you must see how it was with me. I sent at once for my cousin—Mrs. Chandler, you remember her. She told me I was a fool and scolded me. I could get no money from her. I knew I should be laughed at in the same way by other people, and I had no time to seek
