ved with a handsome grey Arab
horse for Domini to try. He had been very penitent the night before, and
Domini had forgiven easily enough his pre-occupation with Suzanne, who
had evidently made a strong impression upon his susceptible nature. Hadj
had been but slightly injured by Irena, but did not appear at the hotel
for a very sufficient reason. Both the dancer and he were locked up for
the moment, till the Guardians of Justice in Beni-Mora had made up their
minds who should be held responsible for the uproar of the previous
night. That the real culprit was the smiling poet was not likely to
occur to them, and did not seem to trouble him. When Domini inquired
after Hadj he showed majestic indifference, and when she hinted at his
crafty share in the causing of the tragedy he calmly replied,

"Hadj-ben-Ibrahim will know from henceforth whether the Mehari with the
swollen tongue can bite."

Then, leaping upon the horse, whose bridle he was holding, he forced it
to rear, caracole and display its spirit and its paces before Domini,
sitting it superbly, and shooting many sly glances at Suzanne, who
leaned over the parapet of the verandah watching, with a rapt expression
on her face.

Domini admired the horse, but wished to mount it herself before coming
to any conclusion about it. She had brought her own saddle with her and
ordered Batouch to put it on the animal. Meanwhile she went upstairs to
change into her habit. When she came out again on to the verandah Boris
Androvsky was there, standing bare-headed in the sun and looking down
at Batouch and the horse. He turned quickly, greeted Domini with a deep
bow, then examined her costume with wondering, startled eyes.

"I'm going to try that horse," she said with deliberate friendliness.
"To see if I'll buy him. Are you a judge of a horse?"

"I fear not, Madame."

She had spoken in English and he replied in the same language. She was
standing at the head of the stairs holding her whip lightly in her right
hand. Her splendid figure was defined by the perfectly-fitting, plain
habit, and she saw him look at it with a strange expression in his eyes,
an admiration that was almost ferocious, and that was yet respectful and
even pure. It was like the glance of a passionate schoolboy verging on
young manhood, whose natural instincts were astir but whose temperament
was unwarped by vice; a glance that was a burning tribute, and that told
a whole story of sex and surely of hot, inq