e feet of our Blessed Lord, who gave his life for her."

The days passed slowly. The whole household, intent on the wretched,
tortured woman downstairs, lived in a state of unnatural excitement. She
was like a victim that was being prepared for the savage rites of a
bloody idolatry. Her terror numbed her. She could not bear to let
Davidson out of her sight; it was only when he was with her that she had
courage, and she hung upon him with a slavish dependence. She cried a
great deal, and she read the Bible, and prayed. Sometimes she was
exhausted and apathetic. Then she did indeed look forward to her ordeal,
for it seemed to offer an escape, direct and concrete, from the anguish
she was enduring. She could not bear much longer the vague terrors
which now assailed her. With her sins she had put aside all personal
vanity, and she slopped about her room, unkempt and dishevelled, in her
tawdry dressing-gown. She had not taken off her night-dress for four
days, nor put on stockings. Her room was littered and untidy. Meanwhile
the rain fell with a cruel persistence. You felt that the heavens must
at last be empty of water, but still it poured down, straight and heavy,
with a maddening iteration, on the iron roof. Everything was damp and
clammy. There was mildew on the walls and on the boots that stood on the
floor. Through the sleepless nights the mosquitoes droned their angry
chant.

"If it would only stop raining for a single day it wouldn't be so bad,"
said Dr Macphail.

They all looked forward to the Tuesday when the boat for San Francisco
was to arrive from Sydney. The strain was intolerable. So far as Dr
Macphail was concerned, his pity and his resentment were alike
extinguished by his desire to be rid of the unfortunate woman. The
inevitable must be accepted. He felt he would breathe more freely when
the ship had sailed. Sadie Thompson was to be escorted on board by a
clerk in the governor's office. This person called on the Monday evening
and told Miss Thompson to be prepared at eleven in the morning. Davidson
was with her.

"I'll see that everything is ready. I mean to come on board with her
myself."

Miss Thompson did not speak.

When Dr Macphail blew out his candle and crawled cautiously under his
mosquito curtains, he gave a sigh of relief.

"Well, thank God that's over. By this time to-morrow she'll be gone."

"Mrs Davidson will be glad too. She says he's wearing himself to a
shadow," said Mrs Macphail.