. Run into the
forest behind the fringe of bushes between the big trees. You will know,
surely, how to find a place in full view of the front door. I fear for
you; but in this black dress, with most of your face muffled up in that
dark veil, I defy anybody to find you there before daylight. Wait in the
forest till the table is pushed into full view of the doorway, and you
see three candles out of four blown out and one relighted--or, should
the lights be put out here while you watch them, wait till three candles
are lighted and then two put out. At either of these signals run back as
hard as you can, for it will mean that I am waiting for you here."

While he was speaking, the girl had sought and seized one of his
hands. She did not press it; she held it loosely, as it were timidly,
caressingly. It was no grasp; it was a mere contact, as if only to make
sure that he was there, that he was real and no mere darker shadow in
the obscurity. The warmth of her hand gave Heyst a strange, intimate
sensation of all her person. He had to fight down a new sort of emotion,
which almost unmanned him. He went on, whispering sternly:

"But if you see no such signals, don't let anything--fear, curiosity,
despair, or hope--entice you back to this house; and with the first sign
of dawn steal away along the edge of the clearing till you strike the
path. Wait no longer, because I shall probably be dead."

The murmur of the word "Never!" floated into his ear as if it formed
itself in the air.

"You know the path," he continued. "Make your way to the barricade. Go
to Wang--yes, to Wang. Let nothing stop you!" It seemed to him that the
girl's hand trembled a little. "The worst he can do to you is to shoot
you, but he won't. I really think he won't, if I am not there. Stay with
the villagers, with the wild people, and fear nothing. They will be more
awed by you than you can be frightened of them. Davidson's bound to turn
up before very long. Keep a look-out for a passing steamer. Think of
some sort of signal to call him."

She made no answer. The sense of the heavy, brooding silence in the
outside world seemed to enter and fill the room--the oppressive infinity
of it, without breath, without light. It was as if the heart of hearts
had ceased to beat and the end of all things had come.

"Have you understood? You are to run out of the house at once," Heyst
whispered urgently.

She lifted his hand to her lips and let it go. He was startled