`` `You see,' he said, `there's absolutely nothing to fear. He can't possibly hurt you. Just as if you weren't bigger and finer and stronger in every way than that dead thing on the floor!'
``Then, when he had got me to the point where of my own free will I would walk up and touch the thing, he drew a lesson for me.
`` `Now remember,' he charged me. `Never run and hide again. Only cowards do that.
Walk straight up and face the thing. Ten to one you'll find it's nothing but a dead skin masquerading as the real thing. Even if it isn't if it's alive--face it. Find a weapon and fight it.
Know that you are going to conquer it and you'll conquer. Never run. Be a man. Men don't run, my boy!' ''
Arkwright paused, and drew a long breath. He did not look at the girl in the opposite chair. If he had looked he would have seen a face transfigured.
``Well,'' he resumed, ``I never forgot that tiger skin, nor what it stood for, after that day when Uncle Ben thrust my hand into its hideous, but harmless, red mouth. Even as a kid I began, then, to try--not to run. I've tried ever since But to-day--I did run.''
Arkwright's voice had been getting lower and lower. The last three words would have been almost inaudible to ears less sensitively alert than were Alice Greggory's. For a moment after the words were uttered, only the clock's ticking broke the silence; then, with an obvious effort, the man roused himself, as if breaking away from some benumbing force that held him.
``Alice, I don't need to tell you, after what Isaid the other night, that I loved Billy Neilson.
That was bad enough, for I found she was pledged to another man. But to-day I discovered something worse: I discovered that I loved Billy _Henshaw_--another man's wife. And--I ran. But I've come back. I'm going to face the thing. Oh, I'm not deceiving myself! This love of mine is no dead tiger skin. It's a beast, alive and alert --God pity me!--to destroy my very soul. But I'm going to fight it; and--I want you to help me.''
The girl gave a half-smothered cry. The man turned, but he could not see her face distinctly.
Twilight had come, and the room was full of shadows. He hesitated, then went on, a little more quietly.
``That's why I've told you all this--so you would help me. And you will, won't you?''
There was no answer. Once again he tried to see her face, but it was turned now quite away from him.
``You've been a big help already, little girl.
Your friendship, your comradeship--they've been everything to me. You're not going to make me do without them--now?''
``No--oh, no!'' The answer was low and a little breathless; but he heard it.
``Thank you. I knew you wouldn't.'' He paused, then rose to his feet. When he spoke again his voice carried a note of whimsical lightness that was a little forced. ``But I must go--else you _will_ take them from me, and with good reason. And please don't let your kind heart grieve too much--over me. I'm no deep-dyed villain in a melodrama, nor wicked lover in a ten-penny novel, you know. I'm just an everyday man in real life; and we're going to fight this thing out in everyday living. That's where your help is coming in. We'll go together to see Mrs. Bertram Henshaw. She's asked us to, and you'll do it, I know. We'll have music and everyday talk.
We'll see Mrs. Bertram Henshaw in her own home with her husband, where she belongs; and--I'm not going to run again. But--I'm counting on your help, you know,'' he smiled a little wistfully, as he held out his hand in good-by.
One minute later Alice Greggory, alone, was hurrying up-stairs.
``I can't--I can't--I know I can't,'' she was whispering wildly. Then, in her own room, she faced herself in the mirror. ``Yes--you--can, Alice Greggory,'' she asserted, with swift change of voice and manner. ``This is _your_ tiger skin, and you're going to fight it. Do you understand?
--fight it! And you're going to win, too. Do you want that man to know you--_care_?''
