The Secret Power

"You shall not be interfered with,"--he said--"You have done very well! Complete rest, nourishment and your care are all that this patient needs. She will be quite herself in a very short time. She is extraordinarily beautiful!"

"I wish you could see her eyes!" said Morgana.

Almost as if the uttered wish had touched some recess of her stunned brain, Manella's eyelids quivered and lifted,--the great dark glory of the stars of her soul shone forth for an instant, giving sudden radiance to the pallor of her features--then they closed again as in utter weariness.

"Magnificent!" said Ardini, under his breath--"And full of the vital light,--she will live!"

"And she will love!" added Morgana, softly.

The Professor looked at her enquiringly.

"The man she loves is in the next room"--she continued--"We rescued him with her--if it can be called a rescue. He is the worst case. Only you may be able to bring him back to consciousness,--I have done my best in vain. If YOU fail then we must give up hope."

She preceded him into the adjoining chamber; as he entered it after her he paused--almost intimidated, despite his long medical and surgical experience, by the stone-like figure of man that lay before him. It was as if one should have unearthed a statue, grey with time--a statue nobly formed, with a powerful head and severe features sternly set,--the growth of beard revealing, rather than concealing, the somewhat cruel contour of mouth and chin. The Professor walked slowly up to the bed and looked at this strange effigy of a human being for many minutes in silence,--Morgana watching him with strained but quiet suspense. Presently he touched the forehead--it was stone-cold--then the throat, stone-cold and rigid--he bent down and listened for the heart's pulsations,--not a flutter--not a beat! Drawing back from this examination he looked at Morgana,--she met his eyes with the query in her own which she emphasised by the spoken word-"Dead?"

"No!"--he answered--"I think not. It is very difficult for a man of this type to die at all. Granted favourable conditions--and barring accidents caused by the carelessness of others--he ought to be one of those destined to live for ever. But"--here he hesitated--"if I am right in my surmise,--of course it is only a first opinion--death would be the very best thing for him."

"Oh, why do you say that?" she asked, pitifully.