Presently he looked up and said quietly:
"I am afraid I startled you."
She held out both her hands to him. "Dear,"
she said, "are we not friends enough by now for
you to trust me a little bit? What is it?"
"Only a private trouble of my own. I don't
see why you should be worried over it."
"Listen a moment," she went on, taking his
hand in both of hers to steady its convulsive
trembling. "I have not tried to lay hands on a
thing that is not mine to touch. But now that
you have given me, of your own free will, so much
of your confidence, will you not give me a little
more--as you would do if I were your sister.
Keep the mask on your face, if it is any consolation
to you, but don't wear a mask on your soul,
for your own sake."
He bent his head lower. "You must be patient
with me," he said. "I am an unsatisfactory sort
of brother to have, I'm afraid; but if you only
knew---- I have been nearly mad this last week.
It has been like South America again. And somehow
the devil gets into me and----" He broke off.
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