hey
journeyed on again, leaving him and the ruins behind.

And now had come this swift disappointment. He must have regretted his
move instantly, and made up his mind to be more rigid than ever.

She hardly troubled to ask why. Doubtless he had his own reasons, and
whatever they were, they were nothing petty or small. Her eyes strayed
a little longingly to the police camp, and she watched the door of his
hut from her chair securely hidden behind some low bushes.

Was he still grinding at his report, she wondered, looking like a
bronze figure? The simile pleased her, and she smiled. Yes, bronze was
the right word to use, for his face and hands and arms were tanned
almost to the colour of his khaki with exposure, so that he sometimes
looked all of a piece, except for the close-clipped dark moustache and
keen, intense blue eyes.

Then as she looked she saw some movement in the camp. A boy appeared,
apparently in answer to a call, and stood a moment receiving
directions. Then the tall figure itself appeared, stood a moment to
give an order, and strode down towards the little gate. She sat up,
and her breath came a little unevenly. Was he really coming at last?
Had he, after all, been seriously delayed?

No; outside the gate, without one glance towards the tents on the
hill-side, he turned to the left and disappeared in the direction of
the Acropolis Hill.

So there was nothing further to hope for. He would never come now. It
was the end.

She got up, feeling suddenly a new tiredness, and wishing vaguely that
they were leaving on the morrow. Perhaps it would be possible to
persuade her father to do so without exciting much comment. Diana was
already a little bored with their camping-place and ready to be off,
and she ... without daring to probe too deeply, Meryl felt, for the
sake of her own peace of mind, it would be wiser to go quietly away
from a presence so likely to disturb her peace.

Yes, she would ask her father to plan a move as soon as he came in,
and in the meantime she must do something herself to pass the next
hour more helpfully than sitting alone in the shade.

The greyness had rolled away now, and the evening grown exceptionally
lovely, with clear skies overhead and great banks of pearly tinted
clouds on the horizons. Where should she go? Only two ways lay open.
Either she must follow Diana and Stanley up the valley, or she must
stroll down to the temple alone. The third route lay to the Acropolis