continually sounded him, and the smile upon her lips
continually approved. Durrance did not understand what she was after.
Possibly no one could have understood unless he was aware of what had
passed between Harry Feversham and Ethne. Durrance wore the likeness of
a man, and she was anxious to make sure that the spirit of a man
informed it. He was a dark lantern to her. There might be a flame
burning within, or there might be mere vacancy and darkness. She was
pushing back the slide so that she might be sure.

She led him to speak of Egypt upon the last day of his visit. They were
seated upon the hillside, on the edge of a stream which leaped from
ledge to ledge down a miniature gorge of rock, and flowed over deep
pools between the ledges very swiftly, a torrent of clear black water.

"I travelled once for four days amongst the mirages," he
said,--"lagoons, still as a mirror and fringed with misty trees. You
could almost walk your camel up to the knees in them, before the lagoon
receded and the sand glared at you. And one cannot imagine that glare.
Every stone within view dances and shakes like a heliograph; you can
see--yes, actually see--the heat flow breast high across the desert
swift as this stream here, only pellucid. So till the sun sets ahead of
you level with your eyes! Imagine the nights which follow--nights of
infinite silence, with a cool friendly wind blowing from horizon to
horizon--and your bed spread for you under the great dome of stars. Oh,"
he cried, drawing a deep breath, "but that country grows on you. It's
like the Southern Cross--four overrated stars when first you see them,
but in a week you begin to look for them, and you miss them when you
travel north again." He raised himself upon his elbow and turned
suddenly towards her. "Do you know--I can only speak for myself--but I
never feel alone in those empty spaces. On the contrary, I always feel
very close to the things I care about, and to the few people I care
about too."

Her eyes shone very brightly upon him, her lips parted in a smile. He
moved nearer to her upon the grass, and sat with his feet gathered under
him upon one side, and leaning upon his arm.

"I used to imagine you out there," he said. "You would have loved
it--from the start before daybreak, in the dark, to the camp-fire at
night. You would have been at home. I used to think so as I lay awake
wondering how the world went with my friends."

"And you go back there?" she said