at the
bungalow?"

"No; he stayed at the hotel."

"Did you like him?"

The question was accompanied by a momentary glance of the dark, jealous
eyes.

"Yes, very much."

"He is a nice fellow, first-rate fellow. Of course, he has his faults,
but he and I got on splendidly. He's--engaged, you know."

"So he told me."

Durnovo glanced at her again searchingly, and looked relieved. He gave
an awkward little laugh.

"And I understand," he said, "that Meredith is in the same enviable
position."

"Indeed!"

Durnovo indulged in a meaning silence.

"When do you go back?" she asked carelessly.

"Almost at once," in a tone that apologised for causing her necessary
pain. "I must leave to-morrow or the next day. I do not like the idea
of Meredith being left too long alone up there with a reduced number
of men. Of course, I had to bring a pretty large escort. I brought down
sixty thousand pounds worth of Simiacine."

"Yes," she said; "and you take all the men back to-morrow?"

He did not remember having stated for certain that he was leaving the
next day.

"Or the day after," he amended.

"Have you had any more sickness among the men?" she asked at once, in a
tone of irony which made him wince.

"No," he answered, "they have been quite all right."

"What time do you start?" she asked. "There are letters for Mr. Meredith
at the office. Maurice's head clerk will give them to you."

She knew that these letters were from Millicent. She had actually had
them in her hand. She had inhaled the faint, refined scent of the paper
and envelopes.

"You will be careful that they are not lost, won't you?" she said,
tearing at her own heart with a strange love of the pain. "They may be
important."

"Oh, I will deliver them sharp enough," he answered. "I suppose I had
better start to-morrow."

"I should think so," she replied quietly, with that gentle mendacity
which can scarcely be grudged to women, because they are so poorly
armed. "I should think so. You know what these men are. Every hour they
have in Loango demoralises them more and more."

They had reached the gate of the bungalow garden. She turned and held
out her hand in an undeniable manner. He bade her good-bye and went his
way, wondering vaguely what had happened to them both. The conversation
had taken quite a different turn to what he had expected and intended.
But somehow it had got beyond his control. He had looked forward to
a very different ending to