By the couch came the tall dog,
and crouched, staring up in the master's face; then the younger man
turned his face towards Byrne and the girl. Those thin-cut nostrils
expanded, the lips compressed, and Byrne dared not look into the flare
of the eyes.
"Who done this?" asked Barry, and still the shiver of cold metal rang in
his voice. "Who's done this?"
"Steady, lad," said Joe Cumberland faintly. "They ain't no call for
fightin'. Steady, Dan, boy. An' don't leave me!"
Byrne caught a signal from Kate and followed her obediently from the
room.
"Let them be alone," she said.
"Impossible!" protested the doctor. "Your father is lapsed into a most
dangerous condition. The physical inertia which has held him for so long
is now broken and I look for a dangerous mental and nervous collapse to
accompany it. A sedative is now imperative!"
He laid his hand on the knob of the door to return, but the girl blocked
his way.
"Don't go in," she commanded feebly. "I can't explain to you. All I can
say is that Dad was the one who found Dan Barry and there's something
between them that none of us understand. But I know that he can help
Dad. I know Dad is in no danger while Dan is with him."
"A pleasant superstition," nodded the doctor, "but medicine, my dear
Miss Cumberland, does not take account of such things."
"Doctor Byrne," she said, rallying a failing strength for the argument,
"I insist. Don't ask me to explain.
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