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CHAPTER XI

TIME FOR THE ROAD

“You’re the best dream that ever I had,I think you’re the only one.(There were some nightmares of Fear and Hate,But they are over and done.)I have a flame in my heart for youAs now we’re saying good-bye,But I dare not kiss you even onceLest it burn too red and high.What can a beggar give, Queen o’ Dreams?—I put my lips to your hand,And promise all that I cannot speak—Will you ever understand?And any ill I may leave undone,And any good I may do,Belongs to you, as I pledge it here,For only our dreams are true.”

Tony braced himself to stay on with the Straines. They were very good to him; it would be discourteous to rush away now—besides, they would want reasons, and he had none to give. He felt hot from head to foot as he thought of it. And he must make up his mind not to be a fool—years did count; hadn’t his life taught him that?—and in years he was just a child. He must settle down.

He did. It was easier than it sounds; he read hard, and worked, and scarcely ever saw Alison alone. When she was with the Professor, somehow it was simple to feel a boy. That was a great blessing. And when things grew difficult Tony put on his mask. He could never act, but that grim blank was always at his service.

Alison made only one more attempt to put matters on

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