nity, which thrilled the boy to his deepest depths.

And then it seemed to Dyke that it was not so dark, and he rose and
walked softly to the open door to stand looking out, wondering and
awe-stricken at the grandeur of the scene above his head. For it was as
if the heavens were marked across the zenith by a clearly cut line--the
edge of a black cloud--and on one side all was darkness, on the other a
dazzling sheen of stars, glittering and bright as he thought he had
never seen them before; while the darkness was being swept away, and
fresh stars sprang out from the dense curtain minute by minute, and
seemed to rain down myriads of points of light.

He stood there till he heard a low, weary sigh from the rough bed, and
turned back in time to hear a few muttered words, and then all was
silent once again.

Dyke trembled, and something seemed to hold him fast chained, as if in a
troubled dream.

Then with a wild cry he fell upon his knees, and stretched out his
trembling hands to touch his brother's brow, and the reaction came, for
it was not as he thought. The head was cooler, and there was a faint
moisture about the temples, while the muttering was renewed for a few
moments, and ended with a sigh.

Dyke's hands were softly passed then to his brother's breast, which rose
and fell gently, and when he let his fingers glide along the arm that
had been tossed to one side, there the tell-tale pulse beat rapidly
still at the wrist, but not--certainly not so heavily and hurried in
every throb, for Joe Emson was sleeping as he had not slept for many
days.

The hours went on till, as Dyke sat there, the darkness began to pass,
and the watcher was conscious of a double dawn. The first in himself,
where, as he crouched by the bed, and thought of words that had never
impressed him much before, it was as if Hope were rising slowly, and it
strengthened in its pale, soft light, and mingled with the faint grey
which began to steal in through the narrow window. And this too
lengthened and strengthened, till it began to glow. The fowls--the few
they had left--told that it was day. Once more he could hear the
ostriches chuckling, hissing, and roaring, and the lowing of the cows
and bullocks sounded pleasant and welcome, as a fresh, soft air began to
play through the door.

The shadows within the room grew paler, till, all at once, they darkened
again in the corners, for the full beams of the sun suddenly stole in
through the