sharp neighing of a horse had awakened an
irresistible curiosity in her. She had got up, wrapped herself in a
fur coat and slipped out on to the verandah. The sun was not above the
horizon line of the desert, but the darkness of night was melting into a
luminous grey. The air was almost cold. The palms looked spectral, even
terrible, the empty and silent gardens melancholy and dangerous. It
was not an hour for activity, for determination, but for reverie, for
apprehension.

Below, a sleepy Arab boy, his hood drawn over his head, held the
chestnut horse by the bridle. Androvsky came out from the arcade. He
wore a cap pulled down to his eyebrows which changed his appearance,
giving him, as seen from above, the look of a groom or stable hand. He
stood for a minute and stared at the horse. Then he limped round to the
left side and carefully mounted, following out the directions Domini had
given him the previous day: to avoid touching the animal with his foot,
to have the rein in his fingers before leaving the ground, and to come
down in the saddle as lightly as possible. She noted that all her hints
were taken with infinite precaution. Once on the horse he tried to sit
up straight, but found the effort too great in his weary and bruised
condition. He leaned forward over the saddle peak, and rode away in
the luminous greyness towards the desert. The horse went quietly, as if
affected by the mystery of the still hour. Horse and rider disappeared.
The Arab boy wandered off in the direction of the village. But Domini
remained looking after Androvsky. She saw nothing but the grim palms and
the spectral atmosphere in which the desert lay. Yet she did not move
till a red spear was thrust up out of the east towards the last waning
star.

He had gone to learn his lesson in the desert.

Three days afterwards she rode with him again. She did not let him know
of her presence on the verandah, and he said nothing of his departure in
the dawn. He spoke very little and seemed much occupied with his
horse, and she saw that he was more than determined--that he was apt at
acquiring control of a physical exercise new to him. His great strength
stood him in good stead. Only a man hard in the body could have so
rapidly recovered from the effects of that first day of defeat and
struggle. His absolute reticence about his efforts and the iron will
that prompted them pleased Domini. She found them worthy of a man.

She rode with him on three oc