med in a
ringing tone. "Why--it was because I have never ceased to remember that
I came here to-night. Your name was mentioned at Waroona--it was the
only clue you gave me when we parted, the only clue I had to follow when
I tried to find you, tried to trace you every day since then. I have
never ceased to seek for you, never ceased to think of you, nor to
remember the day I met you. Had you not been here to-night, had I found
it was someone else with a similar name, I should not have forgotten
you--I shall never do that--never."

She sat back in her chair, her eyes downcast, a slight frown puckering
her brows. He saw the frown as she spoke and it checked his words, but
he continued to watch her steadily, noting the graceful, yet seemingly
unstudied way in which the wavy mass of her luxuriant hair was coiled on
her head, the clear whiteness of her skin, the heavy fringe of her
drooping lashes. Even as he watched she raised her eyes to his.

For one brief moment she allowed them to rest, filled with an
earnestness and depth of softness that made his pulses leap again.

Impulsively he stretched out his hand to her across the table.

She lowered her glance, and a faint smile flickered round her lips.

"I must away," she said softly, as she arose. "You will need a good
night's rest after your long and wearying ride."

He pushed away his chair, as he started abruptly to his feet. The warmth
of his impulse went cold.

"I shall start with the dawn or before it," he said, keeping his eyes
averted from the glamour of her face. "I have a riding-cloak. I will
take this hammock-chair on to the verandah. Don't let me disturb you."

"But you cannot go in the morning without a bite," she replied.

"I shall require nothing," he said brusquely. "I shall be away before
you are awake. I am merely staying to set your mind at rest on the
question of the house being visited and robbed. Don't let me disturb
you--or detain you."

She bent her head slowly and gracefully.

"As you will," she replied in a gentle voice. "Good night, Mr. Durham."

Without waiting for a reply she turned and went from the room, closing
the door quietly after her.

He stood where she had left him, staring fixedly at the closed door.

"I was a fool to come, a greater fool to speak," he muttered savagely.
"What satisfaction is there in knowing who she is, when----"

He swung round petulantly, diving his hand into his pocket for a pipe.
When it was fille