But the coughing did not cease. It was the
anguished strife of wounded Nature to assert her damaged authority; the
wild, last effort to clutch and hold fast the elusive torch that,
flickering in the midst of darkness, is called life--the one priceless
possession of our little mortal treasury.
And while he coughed and fought with the demon of suffocation Derrick
was strongly aware of the eyes that watched him, burning like two
brilliant blue points out of the darkness. Wonderful eyes! Steady,
strong, unflinching. The eyes of a friend--a true friend--not such an
one as Carlyon--Carlyon who had failed him.
A thick, unexplored darkness fell upon Derrick as he thought of
Carlyon's desertion; and he forgot at length to wonder at the
strangeness of the night.
II
A BROKEN FRIENDSHIP
By and bye, when the light dawned in his eyes, Derrick began to dream of
many strange things.
But he came back at last out of the shadows, weak and faint and weary.
And then he found that he was in hospital and had been there for weeks.
The discovery was rather staggering. Somehow he had never quite rid
himself of the impression that he was still lying on the great, rocky
boulder where the Secret Service man had so magically scattered his
enemies.
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