I heard as in a whisper,—'Hush, love, your Mary is beside you.'
"What did it all mean? Had I not died? Had I not been born again more than three thousand years later? Had I not lived with the people of the future? Had I not been married a second time to Meda? Had these people not acted cruelly towards me? Had I not floated away into interminable space? And had I not seen terrible and interesting things there? How was it now that a voice said, 'Your Mary is beside you?' Was I dreaming? Was I mad? What was it? Yet those hands, that gentle, kindly sympathetic touch; yes, that was Mary's, my Mary's hand, I should know it amid a thousand. I again essayed to speak, and at last managed to say, 'My Mary, are you there?'
"'Yes, dear one, I am here, but oh, Kenneth darling, do be quiet. I will get such a scolding from the doctor if I speak or allow you to speak, so do be quiet, like a good, dear fellow.' "I said, 'Give me your hand.' She placed
