t for a time, she was bound to be his helpless
prisoner at the last.

Yet his magnetism was such that she yielded herself to him almost
mechanically as they went back into the giddy vortex of the carnival.
Even in the midst of her dismay and uncertainty, she was strangely,
almost deliriously happy.

Romance with gold-tipped wings unfurled had suddenly descended from the
high heavens and flitted before her, luring her on.

CHAPTER XIII

FRIENDSHIP IN THE DESERT

On the edge of the rink immediately below the hotel, a slight figure was
standing, patient as the Sphinx, awaiting them.

Sir Eustace's keen eyes lighted upon it from afar. "There is my brother,"
he said. "We will go and speak to him if you have no objection."

Dinah received the suggestion with eagerness. She was possessed for the
moment by an urgent desire to get back to the commonplace. She had been
whirled off her feet, and albeit the flight had held rapture, she had a
desperate longing to tread solid ground once more.

Possibly her companion shared something of this feeling. The game was
his, but there was no more to be won from her that night. The time had
come to descend from the heights to the dull and banal levels. He divined
her wish to return to earth, and he had no reason for thwarting it. With
a careless laugh he put on speed and rushed her dizzily through the
throng.

To Dinah it was as a rapid fall through space. She felt as if she had
been suddenly shot from the gates of Olympus. She reached Scott, flushed
and breathless and quivering still with the wonder of it.

He greeted her courteously. "Are you having a good time, Miss Bathurst?"

She answered him gaspingly. Somehow it was an immense relief to find
herself by his side. "Yes; a glorious time. But I am coming off now. Have
you--have you seen anything of Lady Grace or the Colonel?"

"I have just had the pleasure of making Lady Grace's acquaintance," he
said. "Are you really coming off now? Have you had enough?"

She passed over his last question, for the wonder pierced her if she had
not had too much. "Yes, really. I am going to change my boots. I left
them somewhere here. I wonder where they are. Ah, there they are against
the railing! No, please don't! I can manage quite well. I would rather."

She sat down on the bank, and bent her hot face over her task.

The two brothers remained near her. Scott was apparently waiting for her.
They exchanged a few low words.

"I'