The fact is, I have all he hasn't.
And he has what I haven't, his talent. He's remarkable. Anyone would
feel it in an instant. I believe he's a great man _manque_ because of a
sort of kink in his temperament. And--I know that I could get rid of
that kink _if_--"

She stopped. The tears rushed into her eyes. "Oh, isn't it awful to be
madly in love with a man who doesn't care for you?" she exclaimed,
almost fiercely.

"I'm not," returned Susan Fleet, quietly. "But I daresay it is."

"When I look at that island--"

Charmian stopped and took out her handkerchief. After using it she said,
in a way that made Susan think of a fierce little cat spitting:

"But I will bring out what is in me! I will not let all my capacities go
to rust."

Quite abruptly, she could not tell why, Charmian felt that there was a
dawning of hope in her sky. Her depression seemed to lift a little. She
was conscious of her youth, of her grace and charm, her prettiness, her
intelligence. She was able to put a little trust in them.

"Susan," she said, clasping her companion's left hand, "the other day,
when we were in the garden of the hotel, such a strange feeling came to
me. I couldn't trust it then. I thought it must be nonsense. But it has
come to me again. It seems somehow to be connected with all sorts of
things--here."

"Tell me what it is."

"Yes, I must. The other day it came when I saw the dragoman, Mustapha
Ali, walking toward the hotel--when he was just under that arch of pink
roses. The horn of a motor sounded in the road, and the white dust flew
up in a cloud. Then I heard, far away, the siren of a ship. It was all
an impression of Algiers. It was Algiers. And I felt--I shall be here
again with _him_."

She gazed at Susan. Romance was alight in her long eyes.

"And now, when I look at that island, the feeling comes again. It seems
to come to me out of the palm trunk and the lilies, almost as if they
knew, and told me."

Susan Fleet looked at Charmian with a new interest.

"It may be so," she said. "Perhaps part of your destiny is to learn
through that man, and to teach him."

"Oh, Susan! If it should be!"

Life suddenly seemed glittering with wonder to Charmian, quivering with
possibility.

"But you must learn to love, if you are to do any real good."

"Learn! Why, I've just told you--"

"No, no. You don't quite understand me. Our personal loves must be
expanded. They must become universal. We must overflow with lov