nts before we
wake. Abdul had scarcely said the words "O Source of Discovery" for
the first time when he rose from his seat and hurried to his master,
who had stumbled and fallen. In his Moslem arms was God's Everlasting
Mercy.

CHAPTER XII

The heat in the Valley had become intense. The work in the
excavation-camp was at a standstill; nothing more could be done on the
actual site until the late autumn.

Margaret and Freddy were soon to say good-bye to the little hut which
had been their home for many months.

No direct news had come to them of Michael. Freddy had heard many
accounts and varying reports from unreliable sources of his travels in
the eastern desert. He was almost convinced that Michael's silence was
due to the fact that there was some foundation for the scandal, which
was persistent, that Millicent was one of his party. The report had
drifted to him from so many sources that he could scarcely doubt it.
It had sprung up and flourished like seed blown over light soil. He
was loath to believe that his friend, even if it had not been by his
own willing or desire, should have permitted the woman to stay with him
when he was Margaret's acknowledged lover. He despised him for being
such a weak fool. If Freddy could have left his work, he would have
started off without delay to look for Michael, or at least he would
have contrived to discover the reason for his silence and what degree
of truth there was in the story of Millicent's being with him.
Situated as he was, it was impossible for him to desert his post. He
had purposely avoided opening up the subject again with Margaret; it
was better to wait until a sufficient length of time had elapsed and
then, if no word came from Michael, he would speak to her again and
hold her to her promise to return home and try to drive the whole
affair from her mind.

Even as he said the words to himself, he knew that they were absurd,
that such a thing was hopeless. Meg was not the sort of woman to trust
and love a man and then forget him. There could be no driving him from
her mind. Freddy knew that she had enough strength of character to do
whatever she thought was right. If circumstances compelled her to give
Michael up, she would do it, but in so doing her youth would be killed,
her heart broken. Her life would have to be re-made. A love like
Margaret's was a serious thing; Freddy realized that. He must go to
work carefully and judiciously.